The Human Side of Animal Welfare

For over a decade, Vijaya Sitaram and I have been dedicated to enriching the lives of stray animals throughout the country. Intriguingly, much of our endeavours are profoundly entwined with human welfare.

As co-founders of the Bangalore Cat Squad – one of India’s only dedicated feline rescue networks and cloud shelters. We annually rescue, rehome and rehabilitate 2000+ felines and canines in need.

What distinguishes our operational approach is our departure from the traditional animal shelter paradigm, rather, we thrive on the commitment of a dedicated corps of volunteer fosters. These individuals afford us over 50+ safe havens across the city to accommodate distressed animals. Notably absent from our model are physical infrastructure, overhead costs, or any investment in marketing. We exist to manage urban stray animal populations, provide medical care, and find homes for disabled, sick, old, or incapacitated animals who can no longer survive on their own. The genesis of our approach emerged from a landscape of dwindling shelter capacities in India and an ever-mounting demand to address the healthcare requirements of urban stray animals.?

We are grateful to be able to improve the lives of animals in need every single day, but that is only half the story.

Here is the other half – untold story of the ‘human’ aspect of animal welfare.

1/ In the essence of the Bangalore Cat Squad (BCS) lies the altruism of our volunteers—a diverse tapestry of individuals, from CEOs to students, mothers, and working professionals. Their journey to us springs from an innate kindness or a profound grasp of the urgent need to assist those in distress.? BCS is deliberately a flat structure and each volunteer is a leader. We realised early on that Vijaya Sitaram and my goal is to be redundant and invisible in as many ways as possible. Instead, our focus is on nourishing and growing the foster network with more people who can build and create on their own animal welfare community. Today we are immensely proud of the many versions of BCS across the country founded by volunteers who briefly were part of the BCS network while living in Bangalore.

Finally, at the core of our framework lies a foundational principle: A code of honour where our sole currency is trust, shared amongst ourselves and with the animals we are dedicated to serving.?

2/Each rescue call precipitates a maelstrom, but not primarily due to the animal in distress. Navigating through frantic reporters, organizing transport amid public reluctance, rallying support from strangers, and managing numerous obstacles, from irate locals to the unanticipated challenges of public scrutiny, the added complexity of gender etc all constitute our norm. Lacking any formal blueprint, our rescue protocol finds inspiration in the tactics employed by the armed forces during live combat. This approach not only alleviates the anxiety and discomfort associated with rescue efforts ( for the rescuer) but also enables us to engage with the larger community in a non-confrontational manner.?Over the years we have been able to successfully rally together warring communities and diffuse very tense situations. We do this because that is the only sustainable solution to the complex nature of animal welfare.

?3/ Nearly every animal we rescue arrives in a state of profound distress—whether injured, orphaned, or victims of cruelty. Our ability to nurture them back to health relies significantly on the expertise and swift action of veterinarians. Yet, for veterinarians collaborating with rescuers can be a daunting process. Many rescuers, often young individuals relying on personal income and donations, struggle to sustain their efforts, leading to burnout or an inability to maintain their work. To address this, we've diligently cultivated relationships with a network of vets across the city. By consistently paying bills promptly and in full and swiftly relocating animals once they're in stable condition, we've fostered trust. This has empowered our vets to take on challenging cases that might otherwise face euthanasia. Instilling confidence in our commitment to go the distance for these animals has been pivotal in our evolution.It enables us to provide continuous, high-quality care remotely, around the clock, for these vulnerable cases not only in Bangalore but across the country.

??4/ Reporters come from everywhere, and we recognize that it takes a great deal of effort for someone to seek us out and ask for help. It is easy to walk away and not get involved. So, we Vijaya Sitaram and I still answer every distress call ourselves, because, over the years, we have had such a diverse group of reporters. We have received calls from young people teetering on the edge of despair, people forced to give up their only companion because of job loss/ relocation/ family pressures, elderly people who have lost a partner and can no longer look after a pet, individuals with a terminal illness, people from below the poverty line who are getting evicted and are often victims of unfair power structures, convicted individuals sentenced to prison and who have nowhere to leave their animals etc. Responding to each one of these uniquely different calls in a thoughtful and meaningful way has required us to discover a generosity of spirit we did not know we were capable of, but more significantly unveiled the inherent kindness that resides within each individual irrespective of circumstance.?

5/ Therapists frequently advocate for animal companionship, prompting many to seek our support. Drawing from the insights of experts, we've developed methods to assess, assist, and enable adoptions for those grappling with mental health issues. Witnessing lives revitalized and spirits uplifted solely by the profound affection of a small animal has been a testament to the transformative power of such relationships. We’ve come to understand that access to mental health care is a luxury that most people cannot afford. When single mothers, abuse survivors, widows, widowers, blue-collar workers and migrant labourers turn to us, we recognize that our support along with that of the rescue animal often becomes their sole lifeline.?

6/ We receive calls on a daily basis from across the country, especially from those coming from semi-urban or rural communities where access to qualified vets is non-existent, and costs are prohibitive. In many cases, we realise that there is no hope for the animal, and so we have cultivated a language of gratitude. It is a gesture that, at times stands as our sole offering. Yet the transformative force of providing comfort cannot be underestimated; in many ways, it has been the sustaining energy propelling our journey all these years.?

7/ BCS embodies inclusivity, acknowledging that love and care can originate from any corner of society if we remain open to it. Our fosters represent a diverse spectrum, including individuals from the disability community and LGBTQIA backgrounds. This diversity has equipped us with a language to advocate for adoptions among those often overlooked. For instance, many years ago we discovered that people with disabilities have a very hard time adopting pets because the process involved poses too many barriers. Over the years we have successfully enabled adoptions for people who are deaf, blind, amputees etc witnessing such positive change in the lives of both these individuals and the animals who found homes.?

8/ BCS works because we have a 100% successful adoption rate. Rehoming stray animals is a hard task and we began with the notion that we would use a generative narrative instead of one focussed on distress and dysfunction. Our focus is on the happily ever after basking in the ordinary and abundant reality of things that are going right. To our surprise, the response has been remarkable, and our hunch that people intuitively respond to beauty, joy and dignity has yielded lasting results for over a decade now.

9/ We frequently serve as the ultimate and sole refuge for individuals from impoverished or for those from financially constrained situations whose sole companion, often a stray animal, represents their only family. Embracing a no-questions-asked policy, we provide financial support to these individuals. We understand the dehumanizing and frightening experience of being compelled to make difficult choices for a beloved companion due to economic limitations. Recognizing the profound bond between them and their animals, we aim to alleviate this burden and provide support in their time of need which has been restorative and regenerative for individuals involved.?

10/ Finally, over the years Vijaya Sitaram and I have cultivated inner worlds that can see past the vitriol and hate that we are often subject to. I still struggle with the cruelty and often insanity of it all – but as Vijaya Sitaram taught me many years ago, it is never the fault of the animal and this work beckons us to shed pride, cast aside egos and listen with our hearts, not ears. This is still a work in progress but working in animal welfare has helped us try and be the best version of ourselves every single day.

Aside from rescue, we have had tireless champions who have supported our work through fundraising, adoption camps and medical supplies such as Vivek Shirke (he, him, his) Rashi Narang Ridhima Coelho

Our accomplishments stand on the sturdy foundation of unwavering support from fellow rescue networks and animal rescue groups in Bangalore and nationwide.

If this post has helped to give you a new perspective on the much-debated subject of animal welfare, and you would like to support our work please reach use the links below to donate. Donations support our medical care work and allow us to continue to scale our ecosystem of offerings.

Ways to donate:?

A/BCS is incubated by the Samarpan Foundation (Since 2018). Please use the donation link below and select Animal Welfare -Bangalore to support us https://samarpanfoundation.org/donate

?Alternatively, write to Poorima at [email protected]

B/If you are a Googler, please consider donating to the link below, where every $ donated is matched by Google.?

Anupama Kamath Joanna Moraes Suchetha Bhat (she/her) Vishal Talreja Pratima Banka Seema Mundoli Shashank Bharadwaj Vivek Shirke (he, him, his) Robin Duhan Nisha Felicita Sushena Sharma Sahiti Gopalajosyula Shubham Agarwal Safa Saifudeen Sailee Gundewar Simrita Kaur Takhtar varun Sastry Kaavya Kannan Pallavi Pareek Aparna Seth Anish Bajpai