Animal welfare bodies left with dogs from hospitals

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Animal-welfare-bodies-left-with-dogs-from-hospitals/articleshow/17186533.cms

CHENNAI: Three months after Chennai Corporation removed around 500 dogs and 70 cats from various government hospitals, the NGOs that offered to sterilize and temporarily house the animals are in a spot over where to release them. 

The Blue Cross, which sterilized close to 60 dogs picked up from the hospitals, is yet to decide where to release these animals. According to theAnimal Birth Control rules, stray dogs have to be released in the place from where they were picked up to maintain balance of habitat. 

"This is a problem for us as the dogs can't be released in medical institutions. Blue Cross usually houses dogs for up to five days. Post sterilization they are released where they were picked up," said Blue Cross Society general manager Dawn Williams. 

"We are yet to decide on what to do with these animals. We are in touch with Corporation officials to decide the future course of action," he said, adding that they were considering putting the animals up for adoption. 

In September, the Chennai Corporation along with volunteers from the Blue Cross, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and People for Animals removed 525 dogs, 16 cats and 3,048 rats from the city's government hospitals. The drive was launched after the body of a 12-day-old infant was eaten by rodents at the government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children in Triplicane. 

Around 60 dogs were sent to Blue Cross, and a few to People for Animals, according to Chennai Corporation officials. They said they did not know what happened to the rest of the animals. "Our duty is to remove the dogs from the government hospitals. It is not our responsibility to follow up on the whereabouts of these animals. We just ensure that they are not released into the hospital premises again," an official said. 

Stray dogs, however, continue to lounge around in the corridors of the government hospitals. "We are doing everything we can to chase the dogs away, but they keep returning. If there are more dogs than we can handle, we alert the Corporation or Blue Cross," said a senior official in the government women and children's hospital in Egmore. 

Animal activists have pinned the blame on hospitals for not keeping their premises clean. "There is so much leftover food in hospitals, which attracts stray dogs. We are still figuring out a humane way to deal with the situation," said S Chinny Krishna, vice-chairman of Animal Welfare Board.

Platters for animals

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/article3775525.ece

Ceramic platters to raise money for animal shelters

People for Animals (PFA) is featuring ceramic platters at its annual fundraiser. A thousand-odd original platters by artists, from all over the country, will be on sale. “There is a wide range of platters from 18 inches to 24 inches in diameter, which are priced between Rs. 5,000 and a lakh,” said Shilpa Chaudhary of the PFA. The unique handcrafted pieces have been done by renowned artists including Yogesh Mahida, Kristine Michael, Jyoti Bhatt, Vinod Daroz and Rini Dhumal.

PFA, headed by Lok Sabha member Maneka Gandhi, lobbies for animals rights and conducts advocacy campaigns in India. They also run a network of veterinary health centres and mobile hospitals and carry out animal disaster rescue missions all across the country. PFA aims to have an animal welfare centre in every district in India.PFA is aiming at generating Rs. 60 lakhs from the sale.

While regular potters are apprehensive about experimenting with shapes, for fear of them cracking in the furnace, these artists have spent months experimenting with shapes, using the finest clays and glazes to create these masterpieces. They are in various shapes and textures inspired by themes like space, the sea and auto rickshaws. There are brilliant works that can fit ones budget too — like Leena Batra’s platter — based on the fairytale The Frog Prince— which costs only Rs.6000. The works are like paintings with three dimensions. Works like those by Neha Pullarwar and Neera Makhija have an aboriginal fossilised look to them, while Keshari Nandan’s clouds on a black platter have an antique Greek touch to it.

PFA’s annual fundraisers — taking place since 1987 — concentrate on emerging genres in the art market. Previous exhibitions have featured porcelain mugs, designer T-shirts, antique tiles and Raj-era lithographs. The prices of the platters, according to the PFA, are lower than those in the open market. So if you want to stock up your art collection, what better time and cause than this.

The exhibition is from August 17 to August 19 at The Lalit on Barakhamba Road.

Sea horses recovered from Agra warehouse

Agra: The owners of an Agra-based firm were taken into custody after thousands of sea snakes, sea horses and various other sea creatures, some banned under the Wild Life Act, were found in formalin-filled drums in the company's warehouse, police said here Thursday.. Ramesh Mahajan and his son Manu Mahajan, owners of Biocraft Scientific System in Nagla Padi locality here, were taken into custody Wednesday.  

On a complaint by a Delhi NGO, having links with animal welfare advocate-cum-politician Maneka Gandhi, the Agra police Wednesday raided a warehouse in Nagla Padi locality, and were shocked to find thousands of sea snakes, sea horses and various other species.

Representatives of People for Animals from Delhi, India's largest animal welfare organisation, told police that the link with this local firm was established after zoology labs of Greenfield College and Acharya Narendra Dev college in Delhi were raided in February.

This is the second major incident here of trading in wild life.  In October 2006, a courier company was found to be sending parcels of a company run by one Upadhyaya, who had a warehouse in Kailashpuri colony. The case is still under trial.

Meanwhile, Mahajan told police that the sea creatures were procured from Mumbai and Chennai and were kept in glass jars to be supplied to educational institutions. He said his firm was legal and registered and was engaged in this work for a decade.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/sea-horses-recovered-from-agra-warehouse_768448.html 

 

Indian animal activists crack down on dogfighting

Animal lovers’ unwillingness to sit by idly and watch as animals are abused for sport has become the shot heard round the world. The Hindustan Times, of India, reports:

Incidents of betting over dog fights, an illegal practice, have come to light in the city [of Gurgaon]. Some villagers in the Badshahpur area and Sector 47 are allegedly involved in the business. Dogs often sustain serious injuries, while some die during such fights. The acts contravene the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and Public Gambling Act.

The article goes on to note that a group called People for Animals (PFA) conducted a sting operation on Tuesday at a location where word was received of an impending dog fight. A reporter for the Times posed as a prospective client in order to infiltrate the ring run by a man named Anil.

The reporter learned that the dog fights are arranged based on client interest and revealed shockingly that “he enjoys the patronage of local police officials to hold dog fights,” adding that his only concern was of the media getting hold of the story. 

http://www.examiner.com/pet-news-in-national/indian-animal-activists-crack-down-on-dogfighting#ixzz1kaLjNZAy

Man held with animal parts worth crores

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Man-held-with-animal-parts-worth-crores/articleshow/9584932.cms

NEW DELHI: A south Delhi resident, the son of a former ambassador to Africa, was arrested on Friday for possessing various prohibited wildlife objects. The total value of the seized items that include ivory and a tiger head runs into several crores.

Police sources said they had received specific information about Dev Khurana (62), the accused, from NGO People For Animals. On Friday afternoon when they reached Khurana`s Sarvapriya Vihar home, they recovered four elephant tusks, each weighing about 20kg, several ivory trinkets, a tiger head trophy, a zebra hide, air guns and clubs. 

 

 Elephant killed by poachers

"Khurana claims to have collected the items while he was in Africa with his father. He doesn`t seem to be into smuggling and might have only been collecting these as a hobby," said a source.

"He also said that he is into exports and came to India to stay with his aged mother. Some of the items might have also been gifted to him, but none of the goods had been declared as per law," the source added.

PFA members,, Dr BL Pradhan, Pooja Mahajan and Rohit Kumar who went on the raid, said they also confiscated a laptop from his home that revealed pictures in which Khurana was shown hunting. "Khurana will be produced in court on Saturday. He can be sentenced to imprisonment for 3-7 years," said the source.