Puppies for U

People for Animals held an adoption programme, successfully finding homes for eight of eleven puppies. For a full account, click on "read more".

People for Animals, Kollam Chapter had received word from a member regarding a bunch of young stray puppies, located near the Railway Overbridge to Kadappakada. After investigating the situation, it was decided to hold an adoption day, and notice was given in the papers. There were 17 puppies; two of them were a beautiful black, and were taken by other interested parties.

For two days, the phones at Prof. Tankachy's house had been ringing off the hook, with people from as far way as Kavanad calling to express their interest. Finally, on Sunday, April 18th, 2010, we held the program.

At around 11:30, we picked up the puppies from their birthplace alongside the railroad tracks. The mothers were concerned, but we explained as best as we could that we would find a good place for their children, and they seemed to understand. They did not protest, bark, or anything! Those are three very intelligent dogs.

With the help of Salauddin, a railway worker from Kolkata, who had seen the puppies born and cared for them as best he could as they grew, we rounded up the puppies into two kennels and into the animal ambulance. Of the original 17, two had been taken by other parties, one had gotten run over by a train just the day before, another had been previously adopted, and Salauddin laid claim on another - the day's first adoption!

We then proceeded to Prof. Tankachy's house to wash, feed, and groom the puppies before vaccination and adoption. The puppies were very happy to run around the small lawn, and did not complain when we washed them, removed ticks, and put a powder on them to control fleas.
We let them run around for most of the day, only kenneling them when it came time for their adoptions.

Even though we had published 4:30 pm as the time for adoption, people began arriving as early as 2, and they had to wait for the Vet! Dr. Ajith arrived around 3, and we vaccinated all the puppies. Dr. Ajith and Linkesh Diwan went back to the place where the puppies had come from, and vaccinated Salauddin's puppy along with the three mother dogs, who were very calm about it.

Finally, all the puppies except three were adopted. Many people came, expressed interest in a male puppy, and left. Many more came with genuine interest for the dogs. People for Animals Kollam Chapter charged no money for the puppies, though we did ask that those who could, please cover the cost of the vaccination. Not everyone could, some of the prospective owners coming from poorer backgrounds, so we waived that for them.

A word about the male dog obsession: Female dogs are better all-round. They will not pee everywhere to establish "ownership" as male dogs do, they will stay around the house and will be good guard dogs - better than males. On top of that, they can be sterilized at the age of 5 months. Dr. Ajith has been trained in the latest keyhole type of surgery, which is very safe and least traumatizing for the dog. Once sterilized (spayed), they will not have periods, and other male dogs will not be a nuisance. Female dogs, unlike male dogs, are not aggressive, and will not roam the neighborhood and get into fights. In truth, female dogs are much more desirable.

After that event-filled Sunday, we received many calls from people regarding puppies in their area needing adoption. We are working out a way to best deal with all of this.

All in all, the program was a great success. The last three female dogs were adopted by one of our members temporarily, and have settled in there permanently.