Deepavali is a much anticipated festival in Tamil Nadu...if you're human. For animals though, the festival can prove to be highly stressful, what with the noise, fire and deliberate acts of cruelty by miscreants. This time around, three organizations have come together to provide rescue services for animals and birds for three days in Chennai.
Hotel for Dogs, Cloud 9 Kennel and Nursing Care, and Save Earth for Next Generation are all set to help animals from October 28 to October 30. They have about 30 volunteers who've enlisted to provide this 24 hour service through their helplines.
“We are conducting a workshop today to teach the volunteers how to rescue and will be providing them with first aid kits,” said Shravan Krishnan, Hotel for Dogs. The team will provide rescue, treatment and ambulance services.
Cloud 9 Kennel rehabilitates and treats animals while Save Earth for Next Generation mainly works for protecting wild animals.
“We will be providing first aid to the animals. In case of any cruelty cases, we will get the animals treated. We have the hospital open 24x7,” said Dinesh Baba, who runs Cloud 9 Kennel.
Dinesh says since that animals have sensitive ears, certain precautions must be taken by pet owners before they enter the festivities. “Crackers should not be burnt around animals. The animals should be kept in a dark place with good ventilation. Animals might bite materials or even bite others due to stress. Some animals even die because of all these noises,” he says.
These are the helpline numbers: 7845018969, 9841588852 or 9789042295.