Dog chained up all night long against the pillar of
Kalimpong Animal Shelter by his owner and thus, abandoned forever finds a home

It was a cold morning in November, with the onset of
winter, Shelter dogs and puppies were huddling together, with their lazy yawns
and mild screech after the chilly weather getting on their skin. They did not
want to get up from their bed and start their day.

On the other hand, Shelter cats were desperately
waiting for the sunrise to bask under the sun and sleep all day long after
their morning meal.  The Animal
Dispensary was open and owners were bringing their dogs for their health
check-up.  While animal attendants were
taking a round to check upon Shelter dogs, there, they saw a white dog with his
long chain tied to the pillar on the Shelter premise. It was an Apso dog,
fluffy and cuddly but he was left alone there, nobody by his side.

His eyes were a little sore from the cold and he was
stuck there chained and with bated breath. 
The dog was in need of help, somebody to free him from that chain. So we
went closer, and unchained him. He began to wag his tail and circle round us. But
his hair looked very unkempt; he had matted knots all over his body. We then decided
to trim his hair, give him a good warm bath. 
Due to fleas, his body was a little sore from allergies which was then
treated.

But back in our heads, we only had one question, why
would somebody leave a nice and friendly dog chained up at the Animal Shelter?
What could have gone wrong with the dog? Although, it wasn’t the first time a
dog was left stranded at Kalimpong Animal Shelter it was a big concern for us
seeing the dog tied up to the pillar without food nor water the night .Alas!
The world has lost compassion today and has become impetuous. Dogs are said to
be man’s best friend but this is what we do to them on many occasions. This sad
dog depicts misery and the sad fate of his thereafter when abandoned but he was
blessed to have found the Animal Shelter that helped him in his short journey
to finding him a home.

He was a friendly dog, we named him Scruffy. We gave
him a nice warm bath to help him with his allergy. He groomed him and cleared
off all his matted hair .Now that he lost most of his fluff that made him look
thin but his fleas were all gone and he was clean and free from allergies. He
ate a very good meal at the Animal Shelter and was living happily. But a nice
dog like him needed a home that could meet his requirements. Therefore, we at
Kalimpong Animal Shelter were in constant search of a loving home where he
could be rehabilitated easily.  While in
search of a loving parent, we came across many but we felt that if the dog was
kept near by the Shelter location it would be easy to treat and make a home
visit on this neglected dog by his owner.

Finally, in a week’s time, we found him the right
parent and he was all set to go home, happy and a little excited. His new
parent came to the Animal Shelter to adopt him by sundown, and spent a little
time with Scruffy then wrapped him well and took him home by his car. Scruffy
with his bulbous eyes once looked at us and bade us goodbye.

KAS yearly conducts camps in outlying villages where ABC camps are previously carried out. To update yearly on rabies vaccination and to operate on new dogs growing in the community and also those owned by owners, ABC camp is highly preferable in all these places.

ABC village camps are very interesting as they attract a lot of children and youths from the villages who are keen to watching the operation being conducted on cat and dogs. This at times becomes the ideal spot for awareness on animal cruelty, rabies and the importance of animal birth control. Other than this, KAS is also approached by the locals to treat their cow and goats if they are ailing. So the experienced paravets after the camp make home visits along with the Vet. The livestock wing also reaches out to these villages for treating large animals but when they are not available, KAS does the needful.

Although the main purpose of KAS is ABC yet they work even beyond that to ensure all animalsare kept safe and treated timely.  From  small to large animals, KAS leaves no stone unturned to meet the needs of owners and their pets.

Basically, when village camps are carried out, the community is very welcoming to KAS because of their dedication towards the voiceless. KAS team travels far leaving very early in the morning to conduct an ABC camp thereby giving the whole day to operations and general treatment of large animals. When there are cases of milk fever and prolapsed on cows, KAS after operation stays back to treat those cows and contacts the village livestock official for the follow-up. The community is always pleased with KAS team for helping them create a dog and human friendly environment thus, stabilising the dog population and making the community rabies free.

In the month of June again, KAS covered many villages by performing ABC and also updated on villages falling under the other Bloc where ABC was yet to happen. Therefore, in the last week of May, KAS conducted four ABC camps along with Anti-rabies vaccination and operated and vaccinated ten dogs per camp.

Following are the camp details:

On 11^th August, 2018 Kalimpong Animal Shelter conducted an Animal Birth Control camp at the request of a local village coordinator Nigam from Chibbo Busty. The camp was held in a community hall at Chibbo Busty where such ABC camps were held previously.  Year after year, such a camp is conducted to help worried owners about dog menace, dog fights and animal abuse in the community. Thus, ABC is an important tool to deal with such atrocities. After years of awareness generation camps owners now are aware of the need and importance of ABC and are always looking forward to such camps where they could bring their pet animals to a makeshift ABC camp in villages conducted by Kalimpong Animal Shelter and also get them vaccinated against rabies.

The main purpose of village camp is to help the community sustain well
without any fear of rabid dogs or dog menace. On the other hand, it is to help pet animals live long and a healthy life. The life in a remote village in Kalimpong is something different than usual and people there don’t have enough facilities or good roads to travel long distance to bring animals for operation. So, Kalimpong Animal Shelter travels far and wide at the request of people from villages to conduct ABC.

When conducting ABC camps, locals even bring their other domestic
animals like goats, chickens or request the shelter staff members to treat their ailing animals or do their general check-up by making home visits close by the camp venue. Therefore, by conducting Animal Birth Control camps, many lives of animals can be saved not only that, it also helps maintain a human and animal friendly society.

KAS Vet, Dr. D.P.Pandey assisted by compounders Sanjeev, and Lil
operated 8 dogs and 2 cats and vaccinated 70 dogs against rabies.

Every year, Anti-rabies and Animal Birth Control camps are organised by Kalimpong Animal Shelter. Such camps are carried out with the help of a village local person who further coordinates with KAS. Animal Birth Control camps play a pivotal role in the life of animals and provide a good learning experience to locals about the well-being of animals and the importance of spay-neuter programme.

KAS has so far conducted more than 300 camps in outlying villages in Kalimpong. To update yearly on rabies vaccination and also spaying on new bitches in the locality, KAS conducts camps in those previous village camp venues. Due to spay and neuter programme of Kalimpong Animal Shelter, it has become easier for people in town and village areas to neuter their pets. Not only that, KAS also provides outreach to the locals about giving first –aid to their pets at the time of emergency, keeping their dogs healthy, de-wormed and vaccinated and about being a responsible pet owner.

 On November 14^th, 2018 KAS conducted its fifth camp in a far off village called, Santook in Kalimpong. The team was led by Dr. D.P.Pandey, and compounders, Lil, Mahesh and Sanjeev.  KAS was also pleased to welcome one of the Vets from the U.K. who wanted to give his spare hands to KAS at Santook camp. Dr. Mark was excellent with his sheer dexterity like the Shelter, Vet.in.charge, Dr. D.P. Pandey.  Both Vets enjoyed thoroughly and exchanged their invaluable knowledge with each other. They drove to the village carrying their autoclave, sterilised equipments and a trunk of first aid and shaving kit for the makeshift camp. Every camp in village area is a makeshift camp that is prepared by Kalimpong Animal Shelter team. And for Dr. Mark, it was a new experience to take back home. The camp gave him an insight of Village life and the people there living in solidarity with animals. The locals attended the camp with their cats and dogs for spaying and vaccinations. Many new bitches were brought for the same to camp.  On that day, Dr. D. Pandey and team spayed 14 dogs and 2 cats and vaccinated 50 dogs against rabies. All owners and dog feeders from the community were given vaccination cards for yearly record of their dogs’ vaccination. All spay and vaccinations were done taking very less from owners and totally free for community dogs.

 Dr. Mark shared his joys with KAS team on his first trial on open flank spay in Santook Village and thanked the villagers and Kalimpong Animal Shelter team for their wonderful hospitality.

Special thanks to Animal Protection Network for their generous donation that helps in successful   implementation of Village camps and Cat ABC at KAS DGAS. We at KAS & DGAS are highly indebted to you for your constant support.

 It’s that time of year where India celebrates National Animal Week all around the country. This National Week is colloquially termed as ‘Prani Saptah’. This Animal week falls on November every year and is hugely celebrated by the Govt. Veterinary Department nationally.

The purpose of this event is to ainly create awareness amongst the locals and farmers to help them generate more income by rearing livestock and poultry. In a developing country like India, where 70% of the population is still dependent on agriculture, it becomes important to educate the locals about new schemes and subsidies provided by the Govt. to farmers. Thus, the Veterinary department in kalimpong also organises such an event in villages for three days.

In this event, kalimpong Animal Shelter is requested every year by the Govt. veterinary wing for Animal Birth Control camps. Due to numerous accomplishments by Kalimpong Animal Shelter over the past years on eradicating rabies and helping with the stray dog population in this small town, KAS is honoured by the Veterinary Department to be part of this event year after year.

As KAS specialises in Animal
Birth Control, KAS Vet, Dr. D. P.Pandey with the help of his team members
conduct open flank spay at the event. Owners are always given prior notice to
camps so that they could bring their ailing dogs for treatment or cats/dogs for
spaying. Students from the village Primary School also visit during the event
to learn about ‘Animal Welfare’ and ‘humane education’.

Children get excited to see the spay/neuter prorgramme conducted by Kalimpong Animal Shelter and they watch in awe. They’re even sensitised about rabies, animal birth control, adoption, etc when they visit KAS stall during such events. It becomes ideal for children to learn more along with the practical knowledge which KAS instills on them. Seeing such performance by KAS team, some children also aspire to become Veterinarians in future and thus, save lives of animals.

This year, Prani Saptaph was held in Pedong and Darjeeling where KAS actively participated and enlightened the crowd. On November, 17th, 2018 the first event was celebrated in Dungra, Kalimpong by the Govt. Veterinary Bloc. The event started by 9 till 5 in the evening with some refreshments and musical performance. The locals had brought in their cats and dogs for vaccination against rabies and some for spaying. On that day, Kas operated on 17 dogs and 1 cat with total vaccination on 43 cats and dogs.

Subsequently, on 18^th and 19^th November, Prani Sapta event was held on the outskirts of Darjeeling, Sukya and Takdah. Kalimpong Animal Shelter team then left for ABC camps in Darjeeling early in the morning. It was a cold day with a little bit of sunshine. But to help the dogs, KAS managed some heaters to keep the dogs warm during the ongoing spay thereafter, guided them about the post-operative care for their dogs. Community dogs were also caught, spayed and vaccinated. Despite the cold, KAS team operated on 14 dogs and vaccinated 10 dogs against rabies.

 On the third day mainly the last day of camp in Takdah, KAS operated on 21 owner dogs and 1 cat. Thirty five cats/dogs were also vaccinated against rabies. Altogether; it was a successful camp for KAS.  The govt. Veterinary Bloc felicitated KAS with a token of appreciation for offering help to the locals and for reconnecting the bond between humans and animals.