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Shelter News - August 2015

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Blessings from our beloved Shelter

   1D   Ken & Prasanna outside Mooji's concert.  tAll you need is love.  
   1B The garden walkway  1cYou're in safe hands little one.  
   115What happened to this poor baby's ear.  1EI'm kind of busy right now, Mom.  

Mani, the rickshaw driver, and his beloved

I’m including this one in the newsletter because of the sympathetic suffering that Mani went thru. I don’t think it was such an ordeal for his beloved dog. If she’d been watching Mani though, maybe she would have started suffering because of what he was going thru.

2AmIntense love.

2BHe looks exhausted. She's fine.

Blessings on both of you, Dear Ones...Om Namah Shivaya.

The life and times of precious Jimmy

He lived on the streets of Chennai. A BIG city. His territory was a heavily trafficked business area.

                                                                     Jimmy's Chennai home.

He survived as a puppy probably because he had a good mom that taught and protected her precious son. People liked him. Many had great affection for him. He was special. Not clingy. Not needy. In his own strong, quiet way, though… open, loving, and accepting. He had a good life along with, of course, some of the more difficult things homeless dogs have to deal with. But his days were engaging, probably filled with affection and activity. And most of all…He was free.

And so he was on the Planet for eleven years when we heard of him.

Ghurhu, our dear, dear Ghurhu called from Chennai. Told us about an old street dog that was virtually blind and living right next to very busy main streets.  Said he wouldn’t last much longer. He appealed to us to take him. And so…Our relationship with Jimmy begins.

A lady brought him in a car at a cost of 3500 rupees that Ghuru paid (probably a third of his monthly salary). We asked her to stay a few hours when they arrived. Jimmy wasn’t afraid. He knew well the lady who brought him. But, still, it was his first time in a car. 5 ½ hours. And the Shelter was a very strange place to him. I mean he had been free and survived having a pretty good life for 11 years in his Chennai territory. But old age had now imposed its unavoidable restrictions. (Leslie is especially sympathetic. He later told him, “Us old guys have to stick together”).

Dr.Raja examined him. Blind in one eye. Could hardly see out of the other. A case of mange as can be seen in the photos. But otherwise in good health. That is, for an old guy.

Vishwa and Supervisor Raja were able to start establishing the beginning of a relationship while the lady was still here. But when the lady left, poor Jimmy was helpless. Had never experienced anything like this. Feeling abandoned, deeply hurt and not understanding he got very, very sad.

                                                       O' dear, dear Jimmy...It will be alright.

For a week we had him in retaining cage 2 (17’ x 12’) with several other handpicked sweet dogs that Vishwa put with him. And tho’ he got a lot of attention, he simply grieved. And there was nothing we could do to mitigate what he had to go thru.

After a week we put him on the veranda so he’d have more freedom. And perhaps form a few relationships with some of the other dogs or puppies. But he was very solitary. (Remember, too, as he walks around he can barely see). However he did respond to affection and attention from the Staff. Not overwhelmingly. But respond, nonetheless. He came to adore Sekar. Sekar with the “cow eyes” and Pure Heart. Who wouldn’t respond to Sekar?

3COn the Veranda.

3DSettling into the veranda.

                                                       A few weeks later with his beloved Sekar.                                                           

But the place where he was headed, after a few weeks on the veranda, was the garden. The garden with a vast amount of room and places to go. And all sorts of choices.

Vishwa tells me he went around solitary with a pretty high status. No one messed with him. It’s not naked strength that gave him the status. But more a vibration. And “kingliness”. Vishwa also tells me that after a while he wasn’t totally solitary. He formed a relationship with two other dogs. They sometimes lay close to him. And sometimes they’d sleep together.

                                                                         In the garden.

Nothing could replace the life of freedom he’d had in Chennai. But it was doable. And there was a sweetness. And safety…In this new life.

A little prayer I said for him about this time: ( So dear Jimmy. A prayer that you’ll get happier and happier being with us. It’s not as good as the freedom you used to have. But babe, it’s old age. And it can still be good…Love from all of us. And we’re very happy to have you here.)

At some point, perhaps a half-year ago I saw that his “upness” was fading. I was told that he didn’t move around as much. And was depressed a lot. We had an animal communicator visit who told us that his hips were sometimes paining from arthritis and that he liked resting and sleeping on something soft…So Dr.Raja started giving him special med for the arthritis along with painkillers…and we prepared a cushy mattress for him. And that helped his state.

In this most recent period his energy started visibly waning.

A number of months passed and I hadn’t seen him. But I was briefed that Jimmy was in the final stretch and didn’t move around a lot. I got the report that he was sliding into solid depression. And then the report came that he wasn’t eating and had been getting i.v.’s. I told Dr.Raja not to do anything heroic to prolong his life. That his time was simply approaching.

3GHe's fading.

3H                                                        With Ramesh in what we thought was                                                                                                                                        his last lap. 

Then a month ago I saw him. He was on Sugana’s lap who was sitting in a chair. I was almost shocked. He’d lost half his body weight.

But miracle of miracles. That very day they had just found out that he loved vanilla ice cream. He just gobbled it up. While he was on Sugana’s lap they brought a quart out to show me.

                                                                              Ice cream!!!.

And so we’re now stocked up with vanilla ice cream. He loves it. And in this last lap of life, it’s so excellent that he’s given this thing which pulls him outside of himself. Out of the depression. He’s eating a lot of ice cream…And has started eating a little food. And he has started wandering around more. Often with his little tail wagging....

                                                                        Ice cream!!!.

                                                                    Ice cream!. Ice cream!.

                                              It's been s-o-o-o long since his precious tail wagged.

Blessings. Blessings. Blessings, dear Jimmy...It’s been so nice to have you with us...Thank you for being You...And thank you for the Shakti you gave us...Love, Us
 

A Call for Financial Help.

This is a time of lean finances...And so this special request for donations....

It is a time when we could use extra help...We've had very intense involvement trying to save the lives of 39 precious creatures...Cows...Bulls...Water buffalo...Calves...It was a major effort...It drew Leslie's energy away from fund raising for 4 1/2 months. We're feeling the effect now. We need help.

One way of helping would be to get other animal lovers to sign up and become aware of us....Another would be to actually raise donations from other animal lovers. Our Shelter really is special. Recurring donations would be the best. We have materials that you could use that underscore the specialness (Contact Leslie at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)…And another way would be to say a prayer for us.

help

Om Namah Shivaya...May all beings benefit...With love, Leslie.

This little girl was brought in by the owner.

She was about a month old. She had eaten something that poisoned her. Dr.Raja gave her a subcutaneous injection of an antidote. He also included the antidote in an i.v. that delivered a saline solution, an anti-biotic, a diuretic, and neurobion (for vitamins).

She pulled through and was released to her owner.

For some reason my Heart is totally open to pigs.

5BDon't know if she'll make it.

5CShe did!

5DGood for her little stomach.

Om Namah Shivaya...A toast…In my tradition…”To life”.

Ramu. His ordeal ended when we found him.

This is an older story. He was one of our worst skin cases. I first saw him while riding my two wheeler on Pradakshina road. He had no hair, and looked stunningly horrible. I stopped a short distance away and phoned Vishwa who was at the Shelter. I then followed him at a distance so that I wouldn‘t lose him.

When Vishwa arrived he came up from behind and caught him first try. I was so relieved and happy. The main reason I’m writing about this guy, is that the speed of his recovery was stunning. He healed so quickly that once I didn’t see him for one or two weeks. And when I went into the “skin cage” I didn’t know which dog he was. I called Vishwa over and he had difficulty, too. I thought he’d be with us three or four months. It really was a bad case. But we released him into his territory in the middle of second month.

6A. Oh_RamuOh Ramu!

       6BDear Ramu.

6CThank God.

6DYes!!!

Love. Love. Love, dear Ramu...Remember us...It was so, so nice to have you with us...Om Namah Shivaya

Ramani. A girl with a stunningly massive tumour

She’s 10 to 12 years. Pretty old. Especially for a street dog. The growth is a mammary tumour. It probably took a year to get that large.

She passed Leslie as he was walking on the main road. He did a double take. Took Pandi a day to catch her. She was otherwise in pretty good health. We had her in cage 2 (17’x 12’) with several other dogs for a day or two. Then put her out on the veranda where she could move around. She wasn’t very social. Didn’t mix with the other dogs and wasn’t interested in attention from the Staff. (Leslie tells us it might be an “age thing”. He notices it in himself).

7A. Poor_babyPoor baby!

                                                                         Thank goodness.

For four or five days after the operation she often looked at where the tumour had been. And occasionally licked it. She still tended to be solitary, but became a little more social, mixing some with the other dogs. And she started responding to attention from the Staff. Several puppies would come close to her when she was lying down. And she let them snuggle.

After several weeks of convalescence Vishwa released her to her territory. We think that she was one of those that craved freedom. He said she was so, so happy.

Dear, dear Ramani, may you be protected and guided...We are always here for you...With love, The Arunachala East End New York gang.                                                                                                                                                                               

He almost didn’t make It.

His owners brought him in. Only 3 or 4 years old. He’d taken a lot of a phosphorus pesticide. You can see in this first video. He’s salivating. Breathing is forced. The upper part of his chest convulsing.

                                                                        It's pretty bad.

Dr. Raja gave him two i.v.’s. First the antidote. And then one with an anti-acid, an anti-convulsant, neurobion, multi-vitamins, and a mega dose of vitamin C.

The second video is during the second i.v.  He’s safely across. Gaining energy…Then after resting a while, in the third video they took him off the table. But the lucky guy still couldn’t stand well. So Dr. Raja kept him overnight.

                                                                   He's going to make it.

                                                                        Too soon to stand.

He got good rest. A lot of loving. And in the fourth video, after being examined the next day we get the first sign that he’s ready to go. He barks at Dr. Raja who is taking the video. Then Dr.Raja tells the owner to put him down on the ground. And he’s ready to travel.

                                                            I'm ready. Let me outta this place.

                                                                        Closing moments.

Good bye dear guy. Good life. And blessings...Love, Us

Young parrot rescued from street

A compassionate person brought her to the Shelter from the big Shiva Temple area. She was lying on the street and couldn’t fly.

Dr.Raja said she must have fallen into a pool of oil. He cleaned her.

10AI wanna be free.

The first time Vishwa tried to release her she couldn’t yet fly. We ended up keeping her three more days and then released her in the same area.

Freedom Dear One, Love from All of Us 

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Shelter Statistics

as of 03/2022
Rescues 8,094
Dogs Sterilized 8,687
Anti-Rabies Injections 20,309
Clinic Visits 78,559
In-Patient Treatments 214,595
Non-Dogs Treated 9,058
Animal Adoptions 1,447
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