It has now been 2 months since you left Friendicoes and went to your new home. I will admit that when I learnt you finally got adopted, I shed a silent tear. Seeing you tied inside the shelter, week after week, month after month for 2 and half years was heart breaking. I could not believe that no one in this entire city of 14 million people wanted you for their own. That one deformation, a paralyzed hind leg did you no favors. People called by the dozen when they heard we had a white boxer, but stopped returning our messages as soon as they heard about your little problem. I was angry at the world, but you never held a grudge. Greeting each new human with love and understanding, straining for a pat or a hug, resigned to your fate. Darling Jill, I am glad that you got your chance. That you are now in a home that values you and loves you for who you are.  We all learnt a lesson from you – patience. For, good things come to those who wait.

With Love

There may be other dogs like jill still looking for homes and waiting for at the shelter for adoption. Contact : 9818201987

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In poetic literature, Zephyr refers to a soft, gentle breeze. The dog in front of me however is more of a whirlwind – in the past five minutes alone, he has jumped on the bed, knocked over a glass of water and been smacked and sent to the corner by his mistress. A sickly Indian puppy with a brutally broken front leg, Zephyr was taken home by a college volunteer to be fostered till he healed.

Ofcourse, one thing led to another and Zephyr never left.  Now 3 years old, Zephyr is confident, pampered and a far cry from the puppy that left us.  Despite his one deformed front leg, he is super fast and absolutely adores his mistress who nursed him back to health (and as for her, let’s just say if you have a problem with her dog you can show yourself out.).  If only others were as lucky!

One small white bundle with two brown ears was picked up by the Friendicoes night ambulance, one late night from near the Gurgaon highway. She was another victim of hit and run, and the last of her litter to come under a car. Her brothers and sisters were all long gone, succumbing to speeding cars and careless driving. The mother had also disappeared one day abandoning her litter to the cruel fate of a life on the roads.

Tilly as she is now known was no different from the hundreds of other puppies that find their way to the Friendicoes shelter every day. Malnourished, scrawny and with a killer wound she did not have much going for her. At first glance she looked liked another euthanasia case. Her fore limb was broken and she was in immense pain. Her shrunken body looked like it was pulling forth its last reserves of energy to continue breathing. The night team immediately put her on sedatives and painkillers to make her more comfortable. The next morning the vet had a look at her and referred her for an x-ray. Although it was pretty much obvious that she had a badly smashed fore leg an x-ray was necessary to gauge the extent of damage. The X-ray made it clear that she either went under the surgeon’s knife or was put out of her misery with an overdose of anesthesia. Both options were no win situations. In such cases usually euthanasia is opted for as the better of the two evils as the animal’s chances of recuperating from a major surgery at a shelter among 200 other sick animals is next to nothing. The risk of post operative complications, shelter infections and not to forget psychological repercussions is too great to be overlooked.

But for whatever reasons the vet decided Tilly was one of those who deserved a chance and had a thin possibility of making it. Maybe it was her soulful eyes or her remarkable tolerance of pain that did the trick but the vet decided he would do his best to save her. So she underwent a major operation which left her with only three limbs instead of four. The post operative care was the most crucial as it decides whether the animal will make it or break it. With every day that passed Tilly seemed to gain something back. She endured the endless injections and the dressings without much fuss. Maybe life on the roads had made her a real tough cookie.

It has been 2 months now.and it is a completely different Tilly who greets you at the Friendicoes sanctuary in Gurgaon. She is like a child with the world at her feet. Funny, feisty and spirited she is all that a puppy should be. Seeing her makes it all worthwhile for the Friendicoes team – the pain of loss, the long hours of work, the low pays, the hard working conditions and the sometimes undeserved accusations. Its stories like her that keeps us grounded and determined to struggle forward come what may.

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The dry well was 40 feet deep. And what was that sound coming from the very bottom? Did someone say “meow”? A cat had fallen to the bottom and couldn’t get out!

A woman called Friendicoes, and was so frantic, it was hard to understand her. Cat fell? Afraid it will die? What?

The team arrived on the scene. It turned out the cat’s name was Top Cat, and he was a stray, but he was a neighborhood favorite. Folks were running up with ladders, ropes, anything that might help the little guy to safety!
Two of our team members, Emaad and Raag climbed 40 feet down and found a very grateful little fur ball. The expression on his face when he was lifted to the top? “This was the most embarrassing moment of my life!” Don’t worry, Top Cat. We’ll only tell folks on the Internet, and cats don’t have computers. Thank goodness he’s now all safe and sound.

She teaches Indian classical dance to children and works at the F-SECA shelter four times a week regularly (for the last twelve years) while spending the other three days of the week with cancer patients and her family.

She is our very own Asha ji, our dependable supporter, volunteer and donor for years now. In a friendly chat session with Ruchika Goyal she disclosed some of the very touching moments and experiences of her life.

“When I initially started working at the shelter I was supported by my kids who too wanted to come to the shelter and help but there was a little resistance by my husband since he thought I could catch an infection due to the animals in the shelter conditions. I tackled it with silent revolt and rebellion without saying a word but still continuing with it. I have loved and been close to animals since my childhood therefore I was confident of not catching any disease whatsoever. I had a soft corner for the mother and the pups. I simply love them like my own children. I enjoy the smell of the pups and feel on the top of the world when I am with them. I always carry treats for them like paneer, biscuits, bread etc and take them for a walk or to sun them in the garden behind the shelter or de-tick and play with them. The pups seem to entice me into taking care of them with their eyes, ears and tongue all together.

There have been days in my life when I have felt unwell and unfit to work at the shelter but I have been driven to visit the shelter only by the sheer pleasure of being with the pups. It has always done wonders for my health and mood and I think that is my only reward!

Following my footsteps even my grandson comes to the FSECA shelter. I feel working for an animal is the best a person can do to repay for all that he/ she has utilized from nature’s pot. I always encourage people to feed stray dogs and help them get treatment and sterilization.

I have been regularly helping FSECA to treat animals around my home and personally feed most of the stray dogs around.

One very distinct incident that I remember is Mendhak’s abandonment by her owners. I was around when they came to leave her; I had a fight
which was on the brink of being a brawl when the FSECA shelter people had to intervene. It hurt me to see poor Mendhak being abandoned in this manner. However it is with great pleasure that I see she has become a mascot at our shelter and every one adores her.

Even Morarji came in my presence as a small pup with a loose stomach and a severe infection. He used to vomit the minute a single drop of liquid or a piece of food would go into him. I nurtured him back to health and see how beautiful and healthy he looks today. All the animals and people at FSECA are great friends and respect me a lot. They all respond to my help with love. I am thankful to God to have given me the opportunity of helping these voiceless beings!”

The end of the year saw the Friendicoes SECA country sanctuary welcome 14 retired mounted police horses and 5 retired Labradors from the police dog squad into its fold. These animals, after serving the country and the public with their unwavering loyalty and hard work for the better part of their life will now enjoy a much deserved happy and peaceful retirement at the sanctuary.

The 5 labradours – Madhu, Rita, Lusso, Naina and Niti have been provided with their own special room and run so that they do not have to struggle to adjust to a new life and new friends. They are a joy to behold and each one of them has his/her own endearing character and personality that u just can’t resist.
Inspite of their age they are as active and boisterous as any puppy and hold their own “football” match (read as in playing with a tennis ball) every evening.

The 14 horses have joined the old Friendicoes family of 5 horses in its spacious stables, taking the count to 19. They are beautiful horses, with exotic names such as Durga, Rekha, Lata, Salma, Nisha, Tania, Andhi, Prince, Anurag, Amar, Shehenshah, Maharani, Mandakini, Rani. They are still skittish about their new home and surroundings and wary of strangers, but the everyone at the sanctuary are confident of winning them over with love and a little more patience.

Please join us in our struggle to give these animals a better life. Help sponsor a large animal (horse, cow, donkey) for Rs.3000/77$ per month and a small animal (dog, cat) for Rs.2000/52$ per month.

To sponsor an an animal at the sanctuary Click Here.

Ultimately her eyes did it for us…when she regained consciousness she gave us such a trusting, innocent and grateful look, it touched our very souls and we just could not let her down. So that day God gifted us our 3rd child, Tiara, a daughter so precious and perfect even in her physical imperfection, who added to our joys and made life richer. She was accepted without a fuss and warmly by our elder daughter Bambi and son Frankie, proving all our fears wrong…maybe they recognized her specialty too…animals are so much more intelligent than us mere mortals in many ways!

It took 3 months of dedicated care, regular visits to the vet, many a sleepless nights and a lot of sacrifice of our social calendar before she was pronounced completely recovered by the vet but looking back to those times we don’t regret a single minute of it. It was a learning experience for us and the family bonds became so much stronger during the whole experience. Since then she has returned our love three folds and her unfailing loyalty and trust in us makes all our efforts look very small. She became the little sister to our elder daughter Bambi and son Frankie and the little star of the family.

To sponsor an animal at the shelter/sanctuary Click Here

Friendicoes SECA’s long term friend and donor Smita Joshi initiated this camp with help and assistance from her parents who live in Almora and the “local guardian of the animals” Kamini Kashyap, a lawyer who looks after about 35 strays in this small hill retreat. The camp was also made possible by the positive attitude and co operation of the local municipal corporation who extended their help by offering premises to hold the camp and helped spread awareness among the local people to bring in their neighborhood dogs for the required immunization and sterilization. The camp which was the first of its kind to be organized aimed at sensitizing the people and spreading the word to adopt the method of spay/ neuter & vaccination to control stray population instead of the age old technique of culling dogs by mass poisoning or relocation into Leopard territory. Only about 68 dogs were spayed / neutered but it was talked about in the local dailies and so the happy Municipality has set up a program with Friendicoes and every alternate month the Friendicoes vets and para vets will go there to do hopefully ever increasing numbers of spay/neuters and to train local vets till finally Almora has its own independent ABC programme.

Geeta Seshamani of Friendicoes said “The success of the camp is seen as the first victory over changing people’s mind sets and creating a more tolerant and animal friendly atmosphere among the locals, many of whom actually like to keep them as pets to guard their houses and fields.”

Dr. Trishul who led the team said “We got a very good response from the people who were keen to understand the whole concept of the camp and do the best by their animals. We managed to sterilize and vaccinate about 68 dogs apart from de worming and vaccinating a few puppies. We hope to go back in the future and hold more camps in surrounding areas and this time we hope to get the municipality to pick up dogs more methodically”.

Our warmest thanks to the parents of Smita, Kamini Kashyap and all those who helped to reach out to the community, take care of our staff and make us feel so much at home.