A Decision !!!

Euthanasia !
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that this question would ever arise before me.
But it did ! and I believe, I made the right decision.

It’s been more than 3 months now, that my life is revolving around the puppies born near my house.
Seeing a bunch of mostly black puppies everyone anticipated that they would not survive very long on the road but I never doubted their survival.
I was sure, if I am around, I will take care of them.

The 3 months ordeal started with these 10 puppies.
But of 10 – the 4 puppies were adopted. Appreciate the people who do adopt street dogs as well. I was sad when they took them thinking that I could have taken better care of them but I was sadly mistaken. Now I realize that it’s good that they were adopted.

Survivors – Battling to live
So now we had a pretty manageable group of 6 puppies who were growing up together.

Event 1 :
One day after returning from office , I found one of my puppy missing from the group. I waited till night and then went on searching for it in and around the places but to no avail.
I came back assuming that he would have also been adopted (this is a very optimistic of me). I felt a little more sad because he was my favorite but on the other hand I was happy that he would be in good hands. The news of him did reach me the next evening. To my dismay, our neighbor told us that during the previous day one of the puppy was knocked on the head by a vehicle and soon after a lady (may be a labor working on the nearby site) came and took the puppy to bury him. He even showed us the place, almost in front of our house, there was a red spot which I noticed for several days.
For a week almost we were sad and made every attempt to convince ourselves that good that he is gone. He would have been a good soul and will not have to suffer the life of a street dog.
Event 2 :
A bigger saddening news was looming for us within 15 -20 days. I returned from my office and while I was walking towards my house, I heard a dog crying. First I ignored, thinking that the puppies must be playing but I could not ignore any longer as the puppy started crying in pain. I felt suspicious and hurried to follow the voice to find him sitting on grass near my house at the cross juncture. At first sight, he appeared fine to me and I tried to lure him with few bread crumps to make him walk near to our house. When he did not eat anything, I noticed a big black patch on his body, also he was not even able to stand up. There was no hair on the patch, as if burnt. Soon I did see his tail which was badly damaged. Though the tail was complete but a long vertical slice of it came out of the tail and the flesh was visible. I also noticed few red marks on his stomach. The puppy had met with an accident. Within minutes I noticed a car driving school vehicle making rounds there. I asked them , if they caused this to him. They said no and hurriedly went off. Though I am not sure, who did this to my puppy but yes this was sure he met with an accident.

I was sure that with some medical aid the puppy would be fine but the challenge was to take him to our house as he was not moving.
For this I called my brother Sid and our immediate neighbors. Our neighbors have 3 dogs. I appreciate their concern not only for them but for all the puppies and animals around.

Seeing so many concerned people, I was sure that the dog would be fine soon. First of all, I understood we got to make a stretcher and required a cardboard. At this Ranjan (kind neighbor :-)) got a liquor box, opened one side of it to made it a three walled stretcher and pulled the dog on the green sheet in the box. We lifted the box and brought him in our compound. Now even a greater challenge, how to lessen the pain and treat the injuries. Before we could worry about this, Rahul (another kind neighbor from the same house :-)) came with the first aid kit. And in no time, without any hesitation he lifted the puppy, ignoring the continuous howls of the puppy, he cleaned the wounds with Dettol, applied antiseptic to avoid infection and analgesics to lessen the pain. I was moved, I am not sure if I would have ever been able to do what he did within 5 minutes while 4-5 of us gaped at the sight, standing around him.

The puppy was quite now and we moved him inside our house to protect him from ants and insects. He slept peacefully till 8:00 pm. Rahul gave him Pedigree (which he mentioned to be of the best quality :-), no wonder the puppy enjoyed eating it !) and milk which the puppy had. With this I felt the dog was doing well but the only worry was the tail, I did not want to hear the doctor say that the tail would have to be amputated because of the delay in treatment. So, Rahul went to see the doctor if he was available so that we can take the puppy to the clinic. But he returned saying that the doctor has denied to even see the puppy if it’s a street dog. I feel sorry for such people who have such a small thinking ! Isn’t life larger than these useless reasons (pet or street dog ). All the more when we are ready to take the financial responsibility of the puppy, these questions should not arise.

Anyways, we still had hope with CUPA. Krati (same house, kind soul :-)) told us that there is a organization called CUPA which treats the accidental cases of the dogs and other animals. I called up CUPA , it was quite late, 9:30 pm and the CUPA organization was not less than 30 km from our place. The intention was to enquire about the services so that if required we can take him there, else we decided to will take care of him with regular dressings done to his tail. Somehow I was confident ,we could do this.

CUPA – Compassion Unlimited plus Action
Calling up CUPA, I came to know that they have animal ambulances and they can pick up the animal from home, treat it and leave it back after few days. I asked for the ambulance for which the authority did not promise me at first instance as it was late and the ambulance had already gone out to pick an emergency case of an animal. Though they promised to send the ambulance next day morning. Before disconnecting the phone, I shared my contact no. and did apprise them with the critical condition of the puppy, specially as I did not want the delay in treatment to end up losing his tail. While it was hardly 15 minutes I was sitting with the puppy and got him meet his other brother/ sisters by letting them in :-) , I received a call from the ambulance driver, asking me the way to our place.

With little guidance, they arrived at our place. Yes, I was looking at an animal ambulance for the first time. I was apprehensive but since they arrived , I thought it was good to send the puppy with them for the treatment. I felt a little better to see the kind hearted driver and the person who accompanied him. This person lifted the puppy with utmost care and love. I felt better. He opened a small door of the vehicle and placed him inside it. (The vehicles was like a big jeep, 2 people could sit on the front seat , the big covered part at the back had small doors to house animals.) I got him open it again to see if the puppy was fine. The small black box in which he was placed was all dark. For next 30 minutes , I prayed that they reach the place quickly and the ride is not bumpy.

Sending an animal to CUPA requires you to fill a form and take the responsibility of the animal. So , I signed it as ‘Guardian’. There is an option to make donations. I did make some and asked the CUPA person that when he gets back my puppy, all fine, I will donate more. May be I was trying to ensure a good treatment for my small puppy. Also, I made a special note on the receipt requesting to take special care of the tail and not amputate it. In case it was required, I requested for a prior intimation on this. With all this we were hopeful, that after 3-4 days he would be back with us happily playing around with other puppies.

On the lighter side, while I was worried for the tail. Few others said that dogs without tail look handsome but somehow , I could not even smile at this.
I acknowledge the spirit. We all feel sad but we should not let the sadness and reality overpower us so much that we get depressed.

Enquiry :
Next day morning, I called up CUPA with my receipt ID (very organized !) to enquire about my puppy and was told to call up between 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm.
I called up again at 3:00 pm. The lady who answered the call sounded very polite and responsible. She checked against my receipt no. , spoke to the doctor. Doctor was in operation theatre , hence I was asked to call after 5 minutes. I called up again, anxious and hopeful to know about my puppy. A shock awaited! Dr. Lakshmi attended to my puppy. She asked me if it was a pet dog or a street dog, to which I replied 'street dog' but I am ready to take care and I am the guardian. She told me the dog has met with a severe accident. Before I could understand what was happening, she went on telling me that apart from the injuries which were visible, the dog has suffered spinal cord fracture. Though the other fractures can be plastered but there is apparently no treatment to the spinal cord injury as the bone is broken in to pieces. Now I could figure out the reason as to why the puppy was not able to move, stand up or even change the position. I asked her if I can take him to any private hospital. To this she told me that , she has already enquired from a Surgeon and the bone can’t be fixed. Finally, I mustered the courage to ask her that what is the next step and what they generally do in such cases. The response was ‘Euthanasia’. I could not believe to what I was hearing !

She said there is no hope for the animal as the backside was paralyzed. Even if the wounds heal up the animal would be in terrible pain throughout the life, would not be able to stand up, not even be able to change the position, urinate and pass stool lying at the same place. Every half an hour we will have to change the position. Also, as the animal grows and become heavy , the condition would aggravate. She said, if this is the case of the pet dogs, people take them to take care of them but return in 2-3 days seeing the agony of the animal and request the animal to be put to sleep.
Hence, the clear indication was to put the animal to sleep. She said even if we keep the animal in hospital, we would take care of him for some time but later he would have to be put to sleep.

She asked for my permission to euthanize the animal. I told her that I would call up in 5 minutes to confirm. To be certain on my decision and for a second opinion , I called Rahul and he told me that I should say 'yes' to it. I called up the doctor to give a go ahead ! I said yes very quickly, because I did not want the puppy to suffer pain for 1 more day. The doctor was to leave at 5:00 pm. It was 4:30 pm already.
I took the decision but could not hold myself and cried my heart out.

A request !
I kept thinking for days if I was right. But seeing the plight of the dogs on the roads . I feel, I made a wise decision, all the more because he would have been paralyzed.
I observe street dogs more carefully now. Some do not have the tail, some have big injury marks, for some leg is missing, some can’t see properly, the misery is unlimited.
My request to you is to at least be sensitive to these animals. Give them food left overs rather than throwing it in dustbins, keep water outside or on the terrace of your house for birds and animals. Also, if the population is increasing , get them sterilized (this can be done at CUPA).

For details , please check the website -- www.cupabangalore.org . If you are not in Bangalore, check for similar organizations at your place.

Thank you CUPA
I would like to appreciate the commendable work being done at CUPA.
I am impressed with the dynamism and humbleness of each person whom I came across.
I thank CUPA and extend my best wishes to the organization to continue working for a noble cause.

Life with 4 naughty nuts !
Now we have 4 puppies. We have named them.
1. Ballu – Black, long hair, intelligent, pointed ear, sharp eyes, selective in food (only soft bread), mannered, always alert, daring – My favorite
2. Pole star – Black with a rising white spot on his chest between front 2 legs, he is happy at his own bark – it appears he is happy about the discovery of his own voice.
3. Cookie – Brown, eldest of all, leader, bossy, survivor (can eat anything – even after eating he checks the mouth of others to snatch from them), most daring of all, jolly.
4. Unnamed – Lucie, my friend from Canada suggested to name him ‘Zoe’ (her daughter’s name). As told by her, in Canada the pets are named after your loved ones so that when the pets are called the near and dear ones would also be remembered. Interesting !!!

Life for them isn’t easier either. Some insensitive people hit them with stones. I wonder how can people be so insensitive.
Nonetheless, thanks to our lovely neighbors, with their support the 4 puppies are braving the hardships and surviving.


About CUPA ( excerpt from their website )
CUPA is an organisation for the welfare of animals. A registered public charitable Trust, CUPA was founded in 1991 by Crystal Rogers, an Englishwoman who made India her home. From two tiny rooms in her house, CUPA today operates from three centres and occupies a total land area of ten and a half acres. More than 10,000 wild and domestic animals pass through its portals, and activities range from urban stray dog control to load bearing animal relief centres; from a veterinary hospital, emergency care centre, and 24/7 animal shelter operation to rehabilitation of wildlife in their indigenous forest zones.
CUPA is also involved with legal issues protecting the interest and welfare of animals, wild and domestic, in the High Court of Karnataka.It has popularized the compassion for both stray and pet animals through the writing of columns in local newspapers, thus making it acceptable for urban people to adopt homeless animals.
Today, CUPA in Bangalore is synonymous with animal advocacy and welfare. The Karnataka Veterinary and Fisheries Science University (KVAFSU) has generously allowed use of its land for an Animal Shelter on their campus in Hebbal, where CUPA provides personalised care for stray, wounded, abused and abandoned animals.