I came to Varkala last November for two weeks, for a holiday, and I got involved with operation street dogs. I got to meet a lot of dogs, all very friendly but hungry and in a very bad way for some of them. With Mo and her scooter we went round to evaluate what we could do, which dog needed treatment (antibiotics), we stocked up with worm treatment, flea powder, disinfectant and a lot of food, water for all the dogs and baby milk for the puppies.
Near the beach, on a parking space, there was a group of dogs, one of the females had a bad head injury (Lotus), another one had four puppies (Sunshine), and the other bitch (Gloria) had two puppies in a bad way. Little Gloria looked very thin, lacking nourishment for herself and her puppies. The smallest of the puppy (Hope) looked in a really bad way, so we took it to the vet’s who refused to do anything for this poor little creature. Hope died the next day sadly. Her little brother Leo had a better fate and got adopted by a nice Indian family.
Lotus was treated with antibiotics for two weeks and by the time I left India the wound had almost healed and she was looking great. Poor Sunshine lost all her puppies, either being killed by cars or died of distemper. Mo took her to “people for animals” with another six bitches to be sterilised. She is now back on the streets, but quite weak and depressed. Mo did her best, feeding her fish and chicken to help her recover.
Little Gloria was also sterilised and she is doing well. I had put a collar on her thin neck hoping it would save her from being killed or being badly treated ( as it makes people think she belongs to somebody). This little dog was very special to me, so friendly and loving. I know other people continue to look after all these street dogs in Varkala which is great news.
I will definitely be back to Varkala to see and look after all these lovely dogs, and especially sweet little Gloria.
Written by Christine Fondain
