animal crusaders, · 2011-02-16 · contents animal crusaders • commemorative issue • october...

In view of the encouraging reviewsand feedback on our

official quarterly newsletterANIMAL CRUSADERS,

we are making this issue aSpecial and Commemorative one.

It would be acollectors’ item for those

with a vision ofcreating a compassionate world!

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

The secret of a good sermonis to have a good beginning

and a good ending;and to have the two as close

together as possible.

George Burns

Contents

Animal Crusaders • Commemorative Issue • October 2010

1 Maa2 Gandhi Jayanti4 Early Days5 Gandhi Jayanti6 Encouragers8 Campaigns9 Compassionate Statesman

10 Early Days11 The moment... and the glory!12 Early Days13 RSPCA - U.K.14 Memories of Lulu16 Student Crusaders17 SPCA - Hong Kong18 Exploitation of the mutes19 Minds of animals - Cow20 Outreach Programmes21 Animal People22 Sense & Sensibility24 The Golden Rule26 Bird Watching29 Rex the Boxer30 Visitors & Volunteers31 Human-Nonhuman Bond32 Visitors & Volunteers33 My first love34 Student Crusaders35 Plant with a Mind36 Outreach Programmes37 Roots & Shoots38 Animal care - KarunaKunj39 Anti-Speciesism40 Animal Care - Horse41 Gentle Giants

Contents42 Team CCT43 Remembering Sunil44 The rights of our animal brethern46 Pets' Memorial48 Eco-Logical50 Team CCT51 Early Days52 Team CCT53 Ritual Sacrifice54 Islam on Animals56 Exploitation of the mutes57 Top Dog58 Animal Care - Clinic59 Chupee60 Animal Care - Mobile61 http://www.animalcrusaders.org62 Outreach Programmes63 Lord - an inspiration64 Eco-Logical65 Animals as Food66 Zoonotic Concern67 Whitey68 Sampson & Tiki69 Zoo or Ani-jail71 Reminiscences : 24x772 The mute sufferers73 Compassionate Poet74 Sunderbans75 Wildlife Rescue76 Campaigns77 Youngest Crusader78 Republic Day Parade80 Article Contributors82 Team-HR83 Sponsors


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Maa

"They too, are created by the same loving hand of God which created us...It is our duty to protect them and to promote their well-being." ~ Mother Teresa

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Gandhi Jayanti

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1, 2 & 3 Dignitaries as judges & moderators4 view of the stage5 Commemorative Souvenir6 view of the stage

Don't lookdown on

someone unlessyou're helping

him up.

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Gandhi Jayanti

1 & 6 Debate Pix2 & 5 Performance by the children of

Chetla Krishti Sansad3 Launching of Compassionate

Crusaders Club for Students bythe then Mayor.

4 Media Clippings6 Debate Moderator

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Early Days

Sibelius famously remarked to his fellow composer Bengt von Törne: “Never pay any attention towhat critics say. Remember, a statue has never been set up in honor of a critic!”

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Gandhi Jayanti

Hon'ble Justice Altamas Kabir enjoying the

Gandhi Jayanti programme

First they ignore you,then they ridicule you,

then they fight you,then you win.Mahatma Gandhi

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Encouragers

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1. Late Vinod Kr Neotia with GovernorMr. Viren J Shah & Mrs. Anjana Shah

2. Jennifer Butt, RSPCA, UK3. Mr. Douglas G. Kelly, Public Affairs

Officer, US Consulate, Kolkata4. Dr Manu Chandaria, Nairobi, Kenya5. Mr. Syamalendu Chakrabarti, UK,

Ex-Director, AcrelorMittal6. Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi,

Ex-Governor & Mrs. Tara Gandhi7. Mr. Rex Moser, Public Affairs Officer,

US Consulate, Kolkata

Do not withhold good from thosewho deserve it when it iswithin your power to act.

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4

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3

Encouragers

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A candle loses nothing bylighting another candle.

1. General Shankar Roy Chowdhury,Ex-Chief of Indian Army

2. Dr.(Mrs.) Sarala Birla3. Mr. Basant Kumar Birla &

Dr.(Mrs.) Sarala Birla4. Mrs. Sujata Sen, Director, British

Council5. Justice Dilip Kumar Basu, Retired

Judge, Calcutta High Court

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Campaigns

Our lives begin to endthe day we remain silent about

things that matter.

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Compassionate Statesman

What wisdom can you findthat is greater than kindness?

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Jyoti Basu8 July 1914 ~ 17 January 2010

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Shri Jyoti Basu,however, visited uson 25th July, 2006

Early Days

All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated actwithout benefit of experience.~ Henry Miller

Searching for Karuna Kunj land - Mrs Majeda Islam

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In the Masai Mara, Kenya, end ofAugust 2009, after photographingthe crossing of the wilderbeasteand zebra, at a particular point ofthe Mara river, and with thesavage attacks on them bycrocodiles, I was returning backto camp in an open land roverwhen my driver, who with hisbinocular vision, pointed out aleopard with its kill on the higherbranches of a tree hundreds andhundreds of yards away. As theland rover slowly approached thetree to within a hundred yards,this leopard got visibly agitatedby my presence and decided todescend from its tree branch andseek the sanctuary of another tree

elsewhere. I was shooting a NikonD3X with a 600 mm Nikon lensand I filmed a sequence ofphotographs of the leopardgathering its kill in its mouth,climbing down the tree (theaward winning photograph) andcome running, funnily enough,right towards my land rover andpass me with the kill in its mouth– a total of about may be a dozenframes.

I had been fortunate enough tosee leopards climbing up a treewith their kill and also eating theirkill in the branches of the tree –in fact in the Sabi Sands area inSouth Africa, I photographed a

The moment…. and the glory!

My photograph “Leopardwith kill” has won theIndividual Silver medalworldwide as well as theIndian Team Entry Goldmedal in 15th Biennial FIAP(Division of UNESCO) WorldCup Photography.

The Nature Biennale WorldCup organised by FIAP — theParis-based InternationalFederation of PhotographicArt — is one of the mostprestigious global events innature photography. Over850 photographs andprojected images from over570 of the world’s leadingamateur naturephotographers competed fortop honours at the event. Aninternational panelcomprising Jacky Martinfrom France, Ricardo Bussifrom Italy, Jill Sneesby fromSouth Africa and two Indians— B Srinivasa and T N APerumal — were the judges.

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away. ~Eudora Welty

large male leopard directly frommy open land rover perhaps 12feet directly above me, gorgingon its impala kill, while the hyenas,scavenged, around my vehicleswaiting for the crumbs to fall – infact I had to lie down on thefloorboard of the land rover tophotograph.

With enough time and luck onemay see leopards climbing up orin the branches of the trees withtheir kill, but to see and alsophotograph a leopard comingdown the tree with its kill isextremely rare and photographicopportunity to be taken withouta moment’s hesitation.

– Babi Nobis

© Babi Nobis

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Early Days

The world owes all its onward impulse to men ill at ease. The happy maninevitably confines himself within ancient limits. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

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RSPCA - U.K.

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Memories of Lulu

I went down to the pantry asusual, early one morning. ThereJaneth Khan the boy who used tohelp us greeted me.Mundi-baba, he said inUrdu, I have brought youa dog; and there behindhim was a cheerful-looking little dog, aboutfour months old, with alovely gold and whitecolouring, a snout coveredwith some hair, a pinkstring tight around itsneck, but the effect of allwas spoilt by a long, uglytail, with no hair at all onit. The tail became thesubject of derision of themilitary officers and their wives,for Fort Sandeman in Baluchistanwhere we were living then in theearly 40s was essentially a militarycantonment, and time and againthey adjured us to have it docked;but they lived to see it grow intoa beautiful, hairy, white and goldthing, the pride of Lulu, for thatwas what we named the pup,after our teacher’s favouritecousin, as suggested by her.

My parents gave me permissionto keep the pup and it followedme cheerfully that morning intothe long hall that was ourclassroom. But not so cheerful wasthe reception she got. One look,and Kudu my twin brotherscooted up, as it were, the mantel-piece and Thuli my sistermounted the ping-pong table.

a smooth brown and white coat.His introduction to our householdwas not one of the happiest, forhe was placed on the ping-pongtable, and the tiny pup that hewas, unable to stand, he slid cleanoff the table and, of course,howled. We never took to him aswe did to Lulu, for there wassomething superior and aloof

about him, and, as a male,he went wandering. Luluwould stand on top of thehillock and cry withapprehension when Lindy,for that was what wenamed him, went downthe hillock to play with thetommies’ dogs below; butotherwise the two dogshad great fun together,running the vast emptyspaces in Sandeman andthe snow in winter and, itmust be admitted,destroying the fur slippers

of our house – guests.

After she had been with us sometime, one of the jamadars told methat Lulu had belonged to theclub steward. I could well believethat, for I remembered thatcheerful little pup, with the pinkstring around its neck, come outto greet the guests. I do notremember passing on thisinformation to my parents,

Memories of Lulu,the sweetest natureddog I have known.

Lulu- photographed by a friend inChina in mid’80s

There they both remained for therest of that morning’s class, withLulu looking really happy belowthem, wagging its tail furiouslyand barking, trying to persuadethem to descend.

Lulu was quite soon given aplaymate by one of the jamadars,a male dog of superior breed, with

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perhaps because I was afraid thatwe would not be allowed to keepthe pup.

In the course of time, Lulu wasinevitably discovered by a hugewhite, fierce street dog and,equally inevitably, gave birth to alitter of seven pups. Kudu namedthem Snowwhite and the Sevenpups. But the time had come forus to leave Sandeman and wewere allowed to take only two ofthe pups with us, besides Lulu.We chose a female which hadLulu’s colouring and a white male.

While traveling by traln, fathersaid he had never seen suchagony as on Lulu’s face in thedog-box. Our hosts in Delhi werekeen to have one of the pups andwe parted with the white male.Many years later I was told that

he had become as fierce as itsfather and only the head of thefamily could touch him. Thefemale pup, named Gogai, hadLulu’s happy looks and woke usevery morning, scampering overthe mattresses on the floor in

Madras where we slept. She alsobecame the adored pet of theyouth of the house, for he fed herhis glass of milk every morning.So Kudu and I sat outside hisroom one morning andcomplained aloud to each otherthat he was taking our pup fromus. He emerged laughing the nextmorning and said he had nointention of taking our pup, soGogai lost its daily dose of milk.When we were in Ottapalam,however, a cousin greatly wantedit and we left it with her when wewere going to Bharatpur. We sawGogai some years later, a biggerversion of Lulu, lovely but moregrave.Lulu stayed on with mysister Kunja after she got marriedand lived up to a ripe old age.

~ K. P. S. MenonLulu-the most comfortable place on earth,

at the master’s feet

I would rather see the portrait of a dog that I know,than all the allegorical paintings they can show me in the world.

Samuel Johnson

Memories of Lulu

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Student Crusaders

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3

SPCA - Hong Kong

Fifty years ago Hong Kong waslike many poorer cities with open- fronted shops selling meat orgroceries next to dirty repairgarages for cars, and we had veryfew laws to cover hygiene andhealth. The hills were coveredwith thousands of self-built hutsand even some undergroundpassages where refugees fromChina lived in metal cages. Myhusband was in the army and somany of the army wives helpedwith relief for the poor anddisadvantaged as well as givingEnglish lessons to the localpeople.

To guard their possessions thesquatters in the hills would breedhuge dogs which slept in theirhuts at night and were tied upinside when they went to work.Quite often the dogs escaped andcame down the hills, many toroam around the railway lines inKowloon.

Mrs Lenore Winfield was aCommittee Member of the RoyalSociety for the Prevention ofCruelty to Animals and that iswhen she recruited me (areluctant volunteer at the time)to go around these open-frontedbutchers shops and ask for boneswith a little meat on for theseanimals. We scraped the meat,put it into newspaper parcels andwent to the fields where the dogswere gathered near the railwaylines. She then would call out

“Boys, Boys” – I would fling theparcels as far as I could and runfor my life.

That was in l963 and I have beena volunteer for the Society eversince, during which time I haveserved on the ExecutiveCommittee, been the lastPresident of British rule and thefirst of Chinese Rule and a Trusteefor the last 20 years. I am now 85and there is still plenty of usefulwork that I can do and expect todo for many years to come.

~ Pamela D. Barton

Prevention of Cruelty toAnimals in Hong Kong

4 5

1 2

1 Prevention of cruelty toanimals

2. & 3 Dogs awaiting adoption4 Cats awaiting adoption5 Mobile animal care unit

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Exploitation of the mutes

Sonepur Annual animal-trade fair, BiharAmusement Park, China

Crawford Market, Mumbai

Sunday MarketGaliff Street, Kolkata

Out of 135 criminals, including robbers and rapists,118 admitted that when they were children theyburned, hanged and stabbed domestic animals.

Ogonyok (1979)

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Minds of animals-Cow

Animal minds made big news thismonth with Time magazinededicating its cover story to thetopic. “Inside the minds ofanimals,” by Jeffrey Kluger,provides an engaging glimpseinto some of the exciting recentdiscoveries in animal cognition.That title is an improvement overthat of a February 2006 ScientificAmerican article which askedmeekly, “Do Animals HaveFeelings?” as if there shouldremain any doubt about that.

Kluger appears to have had anepiphany when he contrasts howsentient animals really are to theindefensible way humans havetreated and continue to treatthem, especially farmed animals.He emphasizes that theboundaries separating humanand non-human animals aredisintegrating. Time magazine,through him, has taken a boldpublic step in saying that “wecould surely eat less meat.” I hopethis generates considerable angstamong its readers and advertisersalike.

Kluger repeats the commonprejudice that herd animalsexhibit little intelligence.Intelligence aligns poorly withsentience, so even if deer andhorses and giraffes were lesssmart than other creatures, itwouldn’t follow that they can

suffer less or feel pain less acutely.Further into Kluger’s article, theHarvard University ethologistMarc Hauser is quoted as sayingthat “animals have a myopicintelligence; they neverexperience the aha moment thata 2-year-old child gets.” While onecan sympathize with Hauser forthe turmoil currently surroundinghis research methods, I can’tsympathize with a statement likethat. Tellingly, a study on herdanimals puts the lie to bothKluger’s claim of their lack ofintelligence and Hauser’s claim ofhuman uniqueness. A 2004Cambridge University experimentshowed that young heifers exhibitbehavioral expressions ofexcitement when they solve aproblem. At critical points in theirlearning curve in a task thatrequired pressing their noseagainst a panel to open a gate foraccess to food, the heifers showedbehavioral signs of excitement(jumping, bucking, or kicking), andthe animals’ heart rates rose. Asecond group of heifers whoseaccess to food was providedindependently of their panelpresses showed no suchbehaviors. This study suggests

that cows—and probably manyother animals—can have “eureka”moments, taking pleasure in theirown learning achievements.

Pressing a panel to get food maynot seem like such an astonishingbovine act to us now, but it wasn’tlong ago when scientists gaugedape smarts by comparable feats.Perhaps it’s time to form acounterpart to the Great ApeTrust that focuses on bovineconsciousness and intelligence.After all, corvids (crows, jays,ravens, magpies, etc.) haveleapfrogged social carnivores inKluger’s smartness continuum.Who would have expectedbirdbrains to do that?

By expanding our awareness ofanimals’ feelings, we are graduallybeing forced to acknowledge thata new relationship to them isneeded. Lawmakers in theSpanish region of Cataloniarecognize that. In July they votedto ban bullfighting. Followingheated debate, the 135-seatlegislature ruled 68 to 55 (nineabstentions) for the ban. If cattlecould read headlines, there wouldhave been some more jumpingin the air that day. Olé!

~ Jonathan Balcombe, PhD

If a man aspires towardsa righteous life,

his first act of abstinence isfrom injury to animals.

Albert Einstein

It’s Time (magazine)to Respect Cows

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Outreach Programmes

RuralAnimal Care

Camps

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Animal People

Q. What do you say to theargument that there are enoughhuman issues to worry about thanspending time, money andresources on animals? Do youthink that human rights andanimal rights issues can clash andone must be done at the expenseof the other as a matter ofpriority?

A. Animal issues mostly arehuman issues. Much of my workon "animal issues," mentionedabove, has also involved exposingthreats to human health, forexample as result of waterpollution caused by factoryfarming and harmful chemicalsbeing put on the market basedon misleading animal test results. Much of my work helps toprevent outbreaks of rabies,leptospirosis, and otherpotentially deadly diseases.

There is also the inescapableassociation of violence againstanimals with violence againsthumans. No human was everbetter off because someone wasallowed to abuse a dog; butwherever dogs may not beabused with impunity, women,children, the aged, and the infirmare also safer from abuse.

Q. What do you think of the roleof the mainstream press inadvancing the animalmovement? Has the press andmedia done enough to highlightthe animal cause?

A. Coverage of animal issues hasincreased about ten times over inmainstream U.S. newspaperssince I started in journalism, andappears to have increased aboutfour times over in Indiannewspapers during the past 20years.

Q. What is your assessment ofthe Compassionate CrusadersTrust?

A. A very dynamic andaccomplished organization,which will rise to do more asIndian affluence rises, increasingthe support base forCompassionate Crusaders' work.

Q. What is your opinion on CCT’scampaign against the Zoos inIndia ?

A. I would have to see manymore Indian zoos to form a clearidea about this. As regards Indianzoos, though, I am encouragedthat the Central Zoo Authority is

encouraging many to becomeactively involved in wildlife rescueand rehabilitation.

(The Indian Zoo Inquiry; a reviewof conditions in the Zoos of Indiaby Compassionate Crusaders Trust& Zoo Check, Canada 2006.)Merritt Clifton is the editor of ANIMALPEOPLE, a US based newspaper thatprovides coverage of animal issues allover the world. He has over 30 years ofjournalistic experience.

The Pen is Mightierthan the SwordExcerpts from interview givenby Merritt Clifton to AnimalCrusaders

Merritt Clifton visits us along withKim Bartlett, President of AnimalPeople, Inc. and the publisher ofANIMAL PEOPLE

I am the voice of thevoiceless;Through me thedumb shall speak,Till the

deaf world's ears be made tohear, The wrongs of the

wordless weak.

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Sense & Sensibility

In our family, the tradition ofkeeping pets as family membershas been inspired by my mother.In her paternal house there usedto be varied animals as pets, andbeing the youngest, Radharani,my mother had the principalresponsibility and interest in theirupkeep. But her own preferencewas the cats. Later on, at theinstance of my brothers, the dogswere included. My eldest brotherwas a doctor in the army, he wasgifted a Tibetan Chow dog by aTibetan Buddhist monastery in1969, in appreciation of his freemedical service to the villagers inthe Ladakh region. He namedhim Mickey. As he was to moveon to another strategic locationdue to Bangladesh liberation warof 1971, Mickey was left in mymother’s care and became ourfirst family dog! All our

subsequent family-dogs arenamed after him.....to never lethim fade away!

Like every story, our family’s pet-love also has a preamble! I was achild of six then. As my father wasan engineer in the army we wereprovided with a large armybungalow in the midst of greensin Ranchi. During our stay theretwo local mongrel puppiesappeared from nowhere andgradually became part of ourhousehold. They would go aroundfreely but keep coming back formeals and stay put near the maingate of the bungalow duringnights. Tommy & Kalu would

readily respond to my mother, bytheir name she had given. Myfather was on the verge of transferand would be busy till late. It wasWar-time in 1945. One of ourorderlies Shanischara’s job was totake me and my younger sisterfor daily evening strolls andTommy & Kalu would be a part ofthe entourage.

One incident of an evening hasbecome indelible in my memory,as my mother narrated it sographically! On our way back fromthe evening stroll we got caughtinto a hailstorm and heavydownpour. Shanischara took usto a house on the way, waiting forthe weather to become normal.Tommy & Kalu were around allthrough. Once the storm subsideda little, Tommy left abruptly, butKalu remained with us. By thattime my mother was worried, wasalready on the verge of breakingdown. When my father cameback, he set out in search, rightaway. Tommy came out fromnowhere and started followinghim. After a while Tommy startedpulling him by his trousers toindicate the ‘right’ way to wherewe were, and my father took thehint and started following Tommy.After going a distance theystopped, as Tommy startedhowling in front of a house andsure enough Kalu took three ofus out of that house even beforefather could call us out. That day,

MickeyI am the family face;

Flesh perishes, I live on,Projecting trait and trace

Through time to times anon,And leaping from place to placeOver oblivion. ~ Thomas Hardy

Radharani with Mini

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Sense & Sensibility

till late at night we kept discussingthe ‘sense and sensibility’ of thecanines!

Then the day came of ourdeparture from Ranchi. As ourfather was ordered to move to aforward location, the family was

to go back to the home town,Calcutta. Tommy & Kalu keptgalloping after our vehicle andeven followed us onto the stationplatform. As the train was aboutto move, my mother’s eyessuddenly caught the sight of twopairs of imploring eyes. A sight

which haunted her till the lastdays of her life, so much so, thateven after five decades whenevershe would narrate the momentto her grand children her eyesglistened at the corners!

~ Sarbani Chakraborty

Radharani’s pet Mongoose in 1930s

God's Oneness, my companions, is the only law of being.Another name for it is Love. To know it and abide by it is to abide in life.

But to abide by any other law is to abide in non-being, or Death.

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The Golden RuleThere is an old saying, "theuniverse is indifferent". Theuniverse seems to ebb and flowwith a life and purpose but whenall is said and done there remainsan equilibrium, a balance that cannot be disrupted. We casually tossa coin to make minor decisions inour lives because the singleinstance is unpredictable but anycasino will tell you that when youtoss the coin enough, there isreally only one result, a clear andundeniable equilibrium, fifty-fiftyas we might say. And so, theuniverse self regulates its ownequilibrium, it does not care thata wild fire will destroy a village asmuch as it does not care that therains will yield a bountiful crop.So, we are here in the middle ofthis indifferent universe, trying tomake sense of each instance as itappears, not realising that we aretoo close to the canvas to see thepainting. We lament ourdifficulties, we avoid pain, we seekhappiness and we try to make adifference. But whats the point,right? We are a part of theuniverse just as much as thegalaxies, the stars, even the paperthat you are reading. Well, thepoint is that we lament ourdifficulties, we avoid pain, we seekhappiness and we try to make adifference... Despite everything,somehow, we have learned to

care and despite what each of usmay think about one and other,we all care.

I can guess what you may bethinking, "All of us are not caring,caring is not in the nature of manypeople in this world. We havewars, we have poverty and thereare great atrocities that havebeen, and continue to becommitted every day". It is easyto say "There are 'us' the caringpeople, and there are 'them' thepeople who don't care", but this

is the real deception. Why?Because despite our differences,we are all cut from the same cloth,we all care. Some of us care aboutthe environment and the legacywe leave to future generations,some of us care for our currentwell being and that of our lovedones. Yet we bicker and we fightbecause we want the otherperson to care about the thingswe care about, because what wecare about is the 'right' thing tocare about, and obviously theother person is wrong. We argueabout how what we care about ismore important than what theycare about, how it is so muchbetter, about righteousness andwhats best for everyone. Andthen, sometimes we falter andloose sight of the big picture.

So, what is the point of all thisthen? It's simple, there is no 'Right"and 'Wrong', no 'Good' and 'Evil',there is only indifference. Hold onthough, its not time to suddenlygo and rob a bank, there is moreto the story. There is one instance,only one in the entire universe,where the idea of right and wrongexists. It's inside you, you own itand it is your responsibility tomaintain, no one Else's. Thatmakes it unique, it makes itspecial, it is your gift and yoursalone. So, how do you convince

It came to me that every time Ilose a dog they take a piece ofmy heart with them. And everynew dog who comes into my life'gifts' me with a piece of theirheart. If I live long enough, allthe components of my heart will

be dog, & I will become asgenerous & loving as they are.

K.L.W.

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The Golden Ruleothers to agree with you? Well,that's the catch, you don't, notdirectly anyway. There is only oneperson you can truly influenceand that is yourself. So do whatyou believe is right, set theexample, and if your definition ofright and wrong agrees with thatof others, they may join you orthey may not, but the choice istheirs to make. I am not makingyou any promises about living thisway, I can not guarantee thatmore good things will happendue to it, nor can I tell you whatwill result from it. All I can tell you

with any certainty is that it worksfor me, through the hard timesand the happier times, it worksfor me.

So take it or leave it, its up to youbut just keep in mind one thing.Through all cultures, all religions,all societies there is one commonconcept that has manifested itselfagain and again. A central maxim,an ethical code, a sense ofmorality that all people sharedeep down somewhere. It doesn'trequire you to believe in aparticular God or faith or doctrine.

It is called the Golden Rule andit's very simple- "Treat others asyou would like to be treated". Itmay cause you difficulty in somesituations, in others it may causeyou joy but one thing is certain,by living by the Golden Rule youhave done as much as anyonecould have ever asked for fromyou and, more importantly, youcan rest assured knowing youhave done as best you can. It isthe only order we can bring to anotherwise indifferent universe, solets make the most of it.

~ Aniruddha Chakrabarti

-: From :-

Dicky l Pipi l Misa l Hero l Luna l Gareli l JeenaChang l Kalia l Dingo l Blacky l Devil l BhootumKrishnakoli l Kelty l Pigy l Boogy l Bhulia . et al

Join “Pets” of all Animal Crusader families of this“City of Compassion”

A call for better attention to: “Homeless city-animals”Promote : Neutering & Anti-rabies shots

Nilanjan and Deepali BanerjeeKolkata-700042 943372189(M)

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Bird Watching

The delightful hobby of birdwatching came to me quite latein life. In the mid seventies whenwe were posted in Bangladesh,we had a house in Gulshan inDhaka; a new area, a glamoroustwin to Dhanmondi-the old partof the city. New as it was, Gulshanin those days did not boast of toomany houses, and not a singlehigh raised building. Those daysone could see the vast openspaces that lay just a little wayaway. One could look up at themonsoon clouds piling up in thesky and be entranced by thesudden loosening up of theclouds and the heavy downpour.From far away across the skiescame different kinds of birds. Thatis when I was caught helplesslyin their magic.

We had a small garden with ahuge jacktree, and someflowering plants and shrubs. Itwas in this unpretentious spacethat birds really came into my lifeand I began to marvel at thebeauty and melody of thesewinged wonders. Families of

golden orioles came; parakeetsused to screech and dart acrossthe sky, magpie robins sang fullthroated, sitting perched on thetelevision antenna.

Now more than 30 years laterafter all our wanderings acrossthe globe, we are home. We livein the middle of the city, but wedo get some of those welcomevisitors who own the sky. It is witha sense of excitement andwonder that we watch thecrowpheasant ”whoop whoop”ing its way hunting for food, thewood pecker high up on the trunkof a coconut palm, the kingfisherappearing regularly and perchingitself on the same branch of thetree day after day, the myna withits heavily made up eyes flittingfearlessly near the house, thetreepies with their long tailsswinging merrily on fragilebranches of trees, a rare barn owlthat strayed into the gardentrying to escape the combinedattack of several crows.

Age and householdpreoccupations do not allow mejoin the charmed group of‘Birders’ and their fascinatingadventures that I read about. Butit makes excellent reading whenthese lucky people write abouttheir bird related activities. Someof these accounts, by individualsand institutions, I would like toshare with you.

The other day I read about a sixtyfour year old woman calledKunjamma who lives all alone in

a place called Kalpatta in northernKerala. I am wrong to say she livesalone; I should say she liveswithout any human company. Shechose to make friends with thebirds around her instead. For morethan 10 years now her house andthe tiny plot around her househas become a sanctuary for birds.She talks to them, feeds and petsthem and the birds hover aroundher and sing to her. She is poorand sometimes has to beg andget food for her friends. Wellmeaning neighbours want to takeher away and look after her. Butshe does not care to entrustherself to such people howeverwell meaning, and leave herwinged friends.

Another heartwarming storyenacts itself in a village inTirunelvelli district in south TamilNadu. The village isKoothamkulam quite likehundreds of other Tamilnaduvillages with their narrow streetswith tightly packed houses, twolakes and a temple where all thenarrow lanes converge. Severaltypes of migratory birdsdiscovered the marshy landaround the lake to be an idealplace for nesting. The villagerswelcomed the birds warmly andthe birds sensed how welcomethey were. Hordes of water birdslike pelicans and adjutant storks,flamingoes and others arrived,nested on trees and housetops orwherever they could find a place.They stayed as long as theyneeded to build nests and bring

Birds

Hail to thee blithe spirit!bird thou never wert,

That from Heaven or near it,pourest thy full heart

In profuse strains ofunpremeditated art.

(Ode to skylark ~ Shelley)

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Bird Watchingup their families. The villagers-men, women and children treatthem with love and respect. Thereis an unwritten law that the birdsshould on no account bedisturbed. There areheartwarming stories of simplevillage people saving young birdsthat fall from the nests andlooking after them till they arestrong enough to fly. The villagershappily make adjustments in theirdaily lives in order not to disturbtheir winged guests in any way.So no loudspeakers, drums andother percussion instrumentsassociated with temple festivalsare permitted while the birds arearound which is for severalmonths in a year. For the lastfifteen years or so the area aroundKoothamkulam is protected as abird sanctuary by the Tamilnadugovernment. Each year more thana lakh of birds of 249 species visitthis haven of love following theirannual migratory pattern.

Now for there is a different kindof story, of an adventure in habitatrenewal which took place in aresidential school ‘Rishi Valley’which was established overseventy years ago by thephilosopher J.Krishnamurthi inChittor district, Andhra Pradesh.One can call the story “the returnof the birds”.

The school campus is now averitable grove of thousands oftrees of all kinds. This grove is setamid hills of almost barren rocksof odd shapes lending the valley

an awesome charm. Today onenotices one of the adjoining hillsis all greener than the rest. This iswhat the story is all about. In thecentre of the school campusstands an enormous banyan treediscovered by the founder duringone of his walks in the area. Thetree since he discovered it, hasput down hundreds of roots andthrows its shade all around. Yearsand years ago there was noshortage of greenery and thesurrounding hills had been full ofvegetation and had naturallybeen home to several differentkinds of animals and birds. Overthe years dry weather and humanand cattle invasion have reducedthe once green scene to scatteredshrubbery; the animals and birdshave all but disappeared from thescene.

In 1980 over hundred acres of thehills adjoining the school campuswere leased to Rishi Valley schoolfor reforestation, a formidable taskin the bare waterless territory.

This was a challenge and theschool accepted it. No time waswasted and the entire school, thestudents and teachers and staffall alike came forwardenthusiastically to bring the lostgreenery back. Pits were dug,thousands of seeds were planted,nurseries for saplings werecreated and water wastransported to the area from wellsfar away. Almost twenty thousandtrees and shrubs were plantedover several months. Gradually

and as years passed naturestarted smiling again and theonce stark hillside was coveredwith greenery. The increasingmoisture, algae, fungi, trees andshrubs were all quietly preparinghospitable places for insects,animals and birds. Slowly butsteadily birds returned to thevalley. There are about 170 speciesof birds now in the area, whichinclude dryland birds like theIndian robin and the bulbul,scrubland birds like warblers andsunbirds, woodland birds paradixfly catchers, myna, woodpeckersand magpie robins and wetlandbirds like dabchicks and herons.The students of the school thrivein their closeness to nature andare enthusiastic birdwatchers.They are being ably guided bysome of their masters who arewell known names in the worldof ornithology.

From time immemorial thesefragile creatures of the sky haveenchanted people, with theirbeauty, song and colour. Theancient Egyptian drew them onthe walls of their tombs, India’shoary literature is replete withreferences to birds. Today thanksto the Salim Alis of the world, thebird is not only a subject of studyand analysis, but is loved andcherished as a thing of beautyand a joy forever.

[I am indebted to the book The birds ofRishi valley for some of the details givenabove.]

~ Lalitha Menon

27


Bird Watching

You can know the name of a birdin all the languages of the world,but when you’re finished, you’ll

know absolutely nothing whateverabout the bird... So let’s look at the

bird and see what it’s doing —that’s what counts. I learned very

early the difference betweenknowing the name of something

and knowing something.

URBAN

NATURAL

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Rex the BoxerMy first pet,my Doggy-pal

Nobody can forget his first pet, orfor that matter any pet in hislifetime!

I still have fond memories of Rexmy Boxer, my best friend at theage of eight.

That was in the year 1925, myfamily was staying in Bombaythen.

Though I used to proudlyintroduce Rex as ‘my dog’; he, infact, was another child for mymother who was the kindest soulI have ever known on this earth.Though my father used to take

Rex for long drives along with usand play with him sometimes, itwas my mother who used to doteon Rex. After my interaction withRex I could not stay for a singleday in my life without a dog andI realised …Dogs are our link toparadise. They don’t know evil orjealousy or discontent. To sit with adog on a hillside on a gloriousafternoon is to be back in Eden,where doing nothing was notboring – it was peace. Bless youRex!

~ Russi Mody

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Visitors & Volunteers

Native American wisdom teaches us, don't forget to"give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way."

The secret for beingmiserable is to have leisureto bother about whether

you are happy or not. Thecure for it is occupation.

George Bernard Shaw

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Human-Nonhuman Bond

Our children go to the zoo forpicnic –Their idea about the Tigeris the one that is panting at acorner in the cage. They can notvisualize this magnificent animalin action nor do they know thatthey have become almost extinct.The little kids know nothingabout poaching and how thecities are making in-roads into thejungle unless they know the factsand figures; their minds arediverted to other topics likemovies and fashion and the worldof romance.

They all love animals but alasmom buys a cute puppy and themaid takes care of it, thus theirknowledge about animal care isreduced to a nil. Children shouldknow about unconventionalexotic animals and how to takecare of them. Going on a holidaytrip need not mean anysophisticated place. CorbettNational Park with the jungle loreis a fascinating idea. So isKaziranga game sanctuary. Whilein town the children can visitanimal friendly organizations andhave a most enjoyable day. Theycan become volunteer or helpinghands which will come veryhandy in later life. Gardening is awonderful hobby for children,since we live in a concrete jungle;window boxes spilling over withflowers can be a source of joy andpride. However children shouldbe taught the ‘Do it yourself ’motto rather than dependingon help.

Eco friendly subject should be anintegral part of the schoolcurriculum. Those who excel in itshould get a special mention.If children are encouraged to keepan eye on the neighbourhood sothat trees are not cut down,animals not abused; they will havesense of responsibility, they willbe useful members of the society.They should be encouraged totake out the garbage. One taskthey would love to take on, forexample, to see to it that mummywears eco-friendly clothes likecotton and linen instead of fur orleather. Thus they will grow upcompassionate towards animals,green fingered with a vision of abetter earth.

~Anita Nag

Catch them young

One of the most obvious factsabout grown-ups, to a child,is that they have forgottenwhat it is like to be a child.

Randall Jarrell

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All I say is, nobody has anybusiness to go around looking

like a horse and behaving as if itwere all right. You don’t catch

horses going around looking likepeople, do you?

Dorothy Parker

Visitors & Volunteers

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My first loveTom, my first loveEveryone has a childhood first love, orobsession. It can be anyone, a tree, afriend, a peer, or even an inanimateobject like an abandoned vintageautomobile or bicycle in a junkyard.

I had some such objects of desire andliking. But of what I can recall, my firstconnection with human emotions wasmy obsessive love for Tom, our ferociouspet dog.

It sounds weird but it indeed was likethat. The living creature I was most fondof was not my parents or a doting uncleor any friend or cousin. I can only findnow my reference point for mychildhood memories from my friendshipwith Tom, a cross of Alsatian and someother breed even my father cannot recallnow.

He was a bit of a mad dog, almost alwaysterrorising visitors and the entireneighbourhood with his barks andgnawing of the teeth at the sight of anyhuman- be it an alien or a known face.Like all dogs he had a hate list of knowndevils. Only that for Tom, the list waslonger than usual.

My mother told me that cross breeddogs are more ferocious, I have no ideaif she were true. Only an expert can say.I will google now to find out.

Well, Tom was fond of me, and estrangedfrom my elder brother. Somehow myelder brother and Tom could never seeeye to eye, neither they were in an eyefor an eye face-off. Humiliated, Tom oncechased my brother as he almost ran forhis life, till my mother reined him in. Elsethere were not many flashpoints. It wasa cold war and both had drawn a line ofcontrol.

Now, after so many years, my brotherremembers Tom fondly, analyses hispsychology. I feel pity that he missed his(Tom’s) puppy love when it was mostimportant for a child. But that he toosecretly loved our dog brought me relief.

As a child I thought I would live withTom forever. He will protect me, I willprotect him and I will travel the whole

world with my dog, straight out of thechildhood books. We had somethingcalled The Radiant Way series, and therewere pictorial stories about dogs andtheir masters.

I would often ride on him, pull his tailand put my hands in his mouth. Hewould not take any umbrage and I knewsoon that my cruelty makes his day. I wasthe only one welcomed to inflict somepain on him.

I can still smell Tom, even in momentsof loneliness I think of him.

We had more dogs after Tom, but Ialways kept looking for Tom in them.The bonding never grew as deep as theone I had shared with Tom.

Tom was witness to my childhoodpranks, my mischiefs, my deepest secretsand bad habits. We were taught fromchildhood to hide our seamier side fromthe rest of the human world, not a dog.So Tom was witness to everything. Therewas no veil between us.

We lived in an unfinished house on theoutskirts of Kolkata which is now abustling extension of this megapolis, ahunting ground for realtors and thewell-heeled. Those days there werejungles full of snakes and some animalslike fox and around. My mother wouldoften live in fear and curse my father forbuilding a house there. The fear was,however, more of humans.

But it was Tom who had created the fearin the neighbourhoods that our houseis unapproachable to miscreants justbecause of him. He could tear anystranger into pieces, that was the wordthat had got around. So we would livein our ghostly unfinished three-storeyhouse with the assuring presence of Tomand a poor Muslim family ofextraordinary human beings along theboundary wall of our house.

Strangely, Tom never threatened thematriarch of the Muslim family. Shewould frequent our house and help mymother with everything. Tom was a maddog, but his madness had not blindedhim about real bonds between humans.The lady was very special to us.

So years passed by playing with Tom,sharing my intimate thoughts with himand feeling secured till one day my fatherdecided to shift from the greater Kolkatahouse to the heart of the city in a rentedhouse.

We were excited about the change, butone evening my father came back hometo say that he had handed over Tom tosomeone else since the new house isnot big enough to accommodate a dog.

I still do not know how my father coulddo that and why he did that. Later whenwe underwent a bad financial crisis aftersome of my father’s business venturesfailed following his voluntary retirementfrom a cushy job, my mother said it wasthe curse of Tom.

I always felt that Tom must have lost hisferocity to the new owner and perhapsspent the rest of his life missing us.

I don’t remember crying with the loss ofTom. I remember the emptiness for days,the yearning to see him, hug him once,the wishes of a powerless six-year-old.

In our new house at Lake Market, wewere surrounded by the usual bustle ofKolkata. I made friendship with streetdogs there, even got bitten by one. Lifemoved on. Later we had gone back tothe old house before it was sold off bymy father after several thefts and adaring dacoity that had hit the headlinesthen in the late 1970s.

My mother always said Tom could haveprevented the thefts and dacoity. I amnot sure.

Today, as I recollect my first associationwith a pet, I know it was not just a fad. Itwas my first brush with life, with love,with kindness, with acceptance of theplurality of the Mother Earth.

~ Sujoy Dhar

Until one has loved ananimal, a part of one's

soul remainsunawakened.

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Student Crusaders

Parents can only give good advice to children or put them on the right paths, butthe final forming of a person's character lies in her own hands. ~ Anne Frank

Until I was thirteen,I thought my name was

SHUT UP.Joe Namath

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Plant with a Minduncommon and exotic plants, Ithought of strolling out on to herbalcony where she kept a largenumber of beautiful pottedplants. I was looking at each oneof them, appreciating the beautyand grandeur.

She told me earlier that whenevershe has to stay away from herhouse for more than a day , shewould always engage someoneto look after and water her greenpals, the “DEMETER’s children” !To my utter surprise I found oneof the plants with large leaves hadall shining and bright like theother ones but with droopingleaves. As I was contemplating onthe ‘strange’ posture of the leaveswhich I remember seeing earlierin normally erect position; I feltmy hostess standing behind. I

looked at her face and could notmiss tear drops rolling down hercheeks. She pushed me asidegently, caressed and kissed eachone of the leaves and raised herface towards me. Before I couldask anything, she explained thatthis particular plant is a bit more‘sentimental’ than the other ones.In spite of regular care, all herplants miss her personal touch!

I felt a strange kind of fulfillmenton finding this aspect of the plantlife. Though, thanks to AcharyaJ.C.Bose, we all know that plantsare living beings, yet how manyof us actually realize that theplants have minds too!

* DEMETER-the Greek goddess ofplant & agriculture

~ Sudeshna Bose Bhanja

Plant with SentimentReal treasure lies within. If we havea sensitive mind, we don’t needto search for pleasure from earthlypossessions; nature has enoughcharm to keep us happy, always!

I have had the pleasure ofwitnessing a very touchinginteraction between a pottedplant and it’s hobbyist tenderwhich consolidated my faith innature’s power of keeping ushappy and away from the earthlycomplications of day to day life.

I went to call on a friend who hadjust come back from a visit to herdaughter living abroad. She askedme to give her a little time to getme some refreshments. As I knewof her hobby of keeping

35


3

1

Outreach Programmes

1 & 2 IIM Calcutta's a studentinitiative - INCA (Initiativefor Community Action),aimed at "service to otherswho serve others".

2

4

3 & 4 Flood relief for animals,distribution of cattle-feed

Whoever could make twoears of corn or two blades ofgrass to grow upon a spot ofground where only one grewbefore, would deserve betterof mankind, and do moreessential service to hiscountry than the whole raceof politicians put together.

Jonathan Swift

36


Roots & Shoots

The goal of life isliving in agreement

with nature.Zeno

37


Animal Care - KarunaKunj

I think I could turn and live with animals,they're so placid and self-contained,

I stand and look at them long and long.They do not sweat and whine about their condition,

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.

Walt Whitman

38


Anti-Speciesism

On World DayAgainst Speciesism

June 5, 2010,

8 year old Sumadhura, a compassionatecrusader visited Karuna Kunj..paidhomage to the departed friends,

cuddled the shelterd Kitties, Doggies,planted a tree for them and dedicated

it to her buddy Poppy.

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Animal Care - Horse

A man of kindness,to his beast is kind.But, brutal actions,show a brutal mind:

Remember, He who made thee,made the brute,

Who gave thee speech and reason,formed him mute;He can’t complain,

but God’s omniscient eyeBeholds thy cruelty -

He hears his cry!He was designed thy servant;

not thy drudge,But know - That his Creator

is thy judge.Unknown author from

The Ladies’ Equestrian Guide, 1857.

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Gentle GiantsA gigantic lossThe death of 7 utterly beautifulelephants by train accidents is acolossal loss to us. ~ Anita Nag

Governmentdeclares Elephant

as NationalHeritage Animal

Alas! if only the elephant knew that he ‘posthumously’ is our ‘National Heritage Animal’!!

41


Team CCT

42


Remembering Sunil

“Your meal is not yet ready dear”,this is how I answered hisscratching the door. Sunil wouldgo down quietly, but came upagain as he spotted Reba in thegarden, expecting something toeat in the meal time.

Sunil was a country dog, born inthe premises of our housingsociety to his mother Moti, whowas also a pet of the house. Sunilhad other names. But thisparticular name was given to himby my brother once when hevisited us from Canada.

Sunil grew up in the householdof the society. He played with thechildren, loved them and perhapswas loved by them too. Sunilindeed had a very loving nature.He did not want anybody to leavethe house even for sometime,would run after him, push him

with his head from the back toprotest, or stand in front of theirvehicles, unrelenting to moveeven as the vehicles started andhe would be the first one to greetat the gate on coming back.

Sunil was very sensitive, had adeep sense of self-respect. If everadmonished by somebody, orspoken to with unpalatablewords, Sunil would not visit hisplace for days together, noranswer his call.

And he was also quite consciousof his own presence. If I talkedabout him, about some feat ormischief, Sunil would sit at adistance with apparentindifference, yet attentive to beingtalked about.

Sunil supervised the work of themechanics who came to work. Hewould make the security menalert of their duties, chase a

suspect. But generally liked to sitcomfortably on the platform atthe centre of the garden, whilehis loud masculine bark made hispresence known.

However, a few things our pretty(yes, he was) dog did not like. Hewould awaken the entirehousehold with his cry wheneverwe tried to give him a leash. Theother was taking medicine. Yetanother was putting on warmclothes, especially the sweaterthat was knit for him. He wouldwhish away the moment weapproached him with the thingand often disappear from oursight for some time.

That was Sunil.

Sunil is no more, but we miss him,indeed we do miss him everymoment !

~ Apala Chakravarti

And that was Sunil

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The rights of our animal brethren

44


The rights of our animal brethren

“From an early age, I have adjured the use of meat, and thetime will come when men look upon the murder of animalsas they look upon the murder of men.” - Leonardo Da Vinci.An issue of fundamental significance and universal relevanceneeds to be brought into the consciousness of the worldcommunity. Ecology and environment, life in every form andevolution, have certain harmony and intergrality that makesall creation kin. Spiritually speaking, the quintessence of theenvironmental movement, in its widest sweep, is thateverything belongs to the supreme self and performs itskarma with a functional nexus. In practical terms, there is apurpose for everything in Nature too sacred to be destroyed.

IS THERE A SOLUTION?

Governments must be pressurized to do the right thing lestIndia’s image and cultural heritage suffer severe damage. Letus not betray the generations from the Buddha to Gandhi.Our tryst with destiny, made when India awoke toIndependence, included an imperative that the nation willwipe every tear from every eye’. This applies to our animalbrethren, parrots, doves and other birds with broken wingsto be sold as pets or for delicate dish, lions and tigers crampedand doped in small cages and even elephants and bearsbrutally treated to perform impossible feats. Let us begin thecrusade for compassion and we must win because our caseis just.

“DARWIN TAUGHT US NOT THAT ALL MEN WERE MONKEYSONCE, BUT THAT SOME MONKEYS HAVE NO TAILS NOW.”–George Bernard Shaw.

(Excerpts from Random Reflections by Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer,Universal, ed. 2003.)

Courtesy: LAWYERS UPDATE- JULY 2005Full text available at www.animalcrusaders.org

45


Pets’ Memorial

Ronaldo is in charge of greetingall visitors at Karuna Kunj andshowing the other dogs thathumans can be their friends.In a previous post on this blog, Iwrote about my visit to KarunaKunj, the animal sanctuary

outside Kolkata, India, which ishome to approximately 40 dogsand close to 90 cats. The dogshere have all come from living onthe streets and are not adoptablefor various physical or behavioralreasons.Ronaldo was left at Karuna Kunjby his person, who moved out ofthe city. But this man, who namedRonaldo after a Brazilian soccerplayer, wanted his dogsomewhere where he could visithim.Ronaldo's person doesn’t cometo visit anymore, but he has plentyof other visitors. And, since mostof the other dogs are wary ofhumans, Ronaldo gets everyvisitor’s attention all to himself.He likes to oversee that eachperson signs the Guest Book, asin the photo above. When I wasat Karuna Kunj, Ronaldo never leftmy side and any moment Istopped or sat down, his head wasright under my hand.Ronaldo has plenty of doggie

Ronaldo, the OfficialGreeter of Karuna KunjAnimal Sanctuary

friends at the sanctuary, too.There’s Dingo, Moti, Lalu, Kalu,Rocky, Kabir, Tiger, and manymore. Since it is warm all the timein India, the dogs don’t need tobe kept indoors. They are free togo wherever they like (only thekitchen with a screened door isoff-limits). In the summer, they digholes to lie in or sleep in shadyareas. In the winter, they sprawlout in the sun.Ronaldo and the other dogs havea home for the rest of their livesat Karuna Kunj. To learn moreabout Compassionate CrusadersTrust, which runs the sanctuary,or to find out how you can helpRonaldo and his friends, theformer street dogs, go to thewebsite.

~ Joellen SecondoOctober 13, 2006

Ms. Joellen Secondo- Joyatri (“Jo”myactual nickname + “yatri” the Hindi wordfor “traveler”)Joyatri’s Blog: A Best Friends volunteerwith a passion for animals and India. Sheis based in Somerville, USA

What made me even more tearyat the time was the receipt I gotfor the services. It went like this.....

My dearest Master,

I am lucky to have had a Masterwho loved me enough to see thatI was laid to rest with dignity. Theword “interweb” has becomefashionable these days. There is,

however, a Cosmic Interweb ofSouls which cuts across thebarriers of this world, and this iswhat brought me into your home& heart ; and this is what madeyou bring me to Karuna Kunj....

I lived to bring you joy, to get yourlove and give you all I had, in myown funny way. Now, I am goneand you live on. For the love I bore

Ronaldo has gone beyond!- onthe 10th of March,2009

He was our guest at Karuna Kunjsince 8th February,1998

46


Pets’ Memorial

Letting go…Come my child,Let me caress your comatose selfFor the last time;Let me press my ears upon yourbody,To feel your heaving breaths,Let me hold you close to my chestAnd kiss your little forehead andcheeksAnd rock you in my arms;'cause it's time I let you goInto the greater hands thatcreated youTwelve years ago.

It was He who sculpted youAnd placed you upon my desolatelap;But todayHe stands before me once moreTo claim you back;I can see His arms of Light–outstretchedTo embrace you.

you, and for the love you have forme and for the interweb whichbinds all beings, I am making thisparting plea :

“Live for those who love you,For those that think you true,For the heaven that is above you,And the hope that you have inview,For the cause that needsresistance,For the future in the distance,And the good that you can do.”

Your loving pet,

Date: 20/12/2008[Excerpts from MTv blog]

*the note at the end, with the pet’s namewritten by Karuna Kunj staff, is given toall the owners after the burial !

Composed on 4.10.2008.We lost our child, Cadbury. He was13 years old. He was suffering fromchronic renal failure. We had triedour utmost to cure him. But we failed.His loss is beyond replacement. I amsending you a poem I composed atmidnight before the very day I losthim. Sitting beside his graduallyebbing self, I felt like a helplessmother surrendering before destiny.

~ Sairindhree Sen.

But how can I let you go, my baby?How can I reconcile with thispainful truthThat I can hug you and fondle youAnd kiss you no more?

Come baby, let me hug you tightNo, no! I can't let you go…..But I must…'cause He tells me He will alleviateAll your sufferingsOnce I restore you back to Hiscustody.He says you were never mineYou belonged to Him and HimaloneI was only a foster parent.I don't know if I am right or wrongBut I'm ready to wrench my heartTo let you go….'cause I can bear your sufferingsno more.

Take my child with you, O DivineBut do relieve him of hisexcruciating torments.

Go, my baby,Let your illumined little soulBe infused with the all-pervasiveradianceOf His supernal magnanimity.

My child, merge into the Light.

47


Eco-Logical

Vandalizing the mangroves in the name of developing Indian west coast Mumbai and east coast Sunderbans

Vandalizing the ecology in the name of developing Indian east coast Visakhapatnam

Men are grown mechanical in head and in the heart, as well as in the hand.They have lost faith in individual endeavour, and in natural force of any kind. ~Thomas Carlyle

48


Eco-Logical

The message is clear:

Nature & Animals…..If they go we go!

Bolivia to Create Mother Earth MinistryLA PAZ Apr 26, 2010, : Bolivia will create theMother Earth Ministry, in accordance withCochabamba's Declaration, which was adoptedby the World People's Conference on ClimateChange, the national media reported.

49


Team CCTThe Telegraph, Calcutta, IndiaThursday, June 03, 2004

APU BANDOPADHYAY

Designed to drive home the point

From decrying open slaughter ofanimals and ferrying of poultry birdsin appalling conditions, to a tableaushowcasing the power of e-governance, graphic artist ApuBandopadhyay’s thrilling explorationof new frontiers is boundless. So thestate pollution control board (PCB)green-lighting his anti-pollution visualsfor posters and badges on WorldEnvironment Day have got him allexcited.

With an artist father Dilip Banerjee fromthe Government Art College andLondon Slade School, the 33-year-oldgraphic designer grew up with the waftof linseed and turpine oil alongside thepalette and the paintbrush at home.“However, he never really taught meanything hands-on, and I have neverhad any formal training,” Apu declares.

The creative urge from his schooldaysat Taki House was stoked further whenhe discovered the genius of SatyajitRay as a graphic artist. Inspired by themaster’s sketches, he got involved indesigning brochures and awarenessstickers for animal welfare NGOCompassionate Crusaders’ Trust (CCT)with themes like sterilisation of straydogs and anti-urban zoo campaign.Visual campaigns for pesticide units inregional publications to raiseawareness in rural belts proceededalongside.

July 17, 2001 was a turning point whenGovernor Viren J. Shah inaugurated thewebsite animalcrusader.org, designedand evolved by Apu. “Today, it is amongthe top 10 Google sites in terms of hitsregistered,” he proclaims. The portaltraces the growth of CCT highlightingprogrammes like the rabies-controlinitiative besides fact sheets on theanimal shelter Karuna Kunj.

Apu’s poster design for the PCB’s WorldEnvironment Day campaign focuseson vehicular pollution and depicts achild trapped in a choking traffic snarlat a congested junction, with noxiousfumes fading the visage colour. Themessage in Bengali says: “Let us takean oath to bring colour back into thechild's life.”

Among other treasured milestones arethe floats he designed for the RepublicDay parade for CCT on the law againstperforming animals in 1999 and forWebel in 2001 on e-governance.

“I would love to make an animationfilm using the old and livelier Disneytechnique,” says Apu.

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Early Days

Sometimes it is necessary to go a long distance out of the wayin order to come back a short distance correctly.~ Edward Albee

CompassionateCrusaders’ song

Set to tune & sung byUsha Utthup

51


Team CCT

The Venu Menon National Animal Awards 2002Venu Menon Special Organisation Award - Compassionate

Crusaders Trust, KolkataSumantra Roy, CEO Compassionate Crusaders Trust, receives

the Award from the late Vice-President Shri Krishnakant

The achievements of an organization arethe results of the combined effort of eachindividual.— Vince Lombardi

Mr. Russi Mody, Chairman Emeritus of theCompassionate Crusaders Trust (CCT) ispleased to make the following statement forthe direction and record of all concerned.

The Trust, CCT is formed to serve animals indistress, and also to fight for their rights tolive in harmony with human society.

The actual services to the distressed animalsare rendered and managed by our ‘Team’ ofdedicated Care-givers, Para-veterinarians,Veterinarians and our Executives.

It may be clarified here, once and for all, thatthough the CCT pays the ‘Team’ somecompensations for the time they devote andalso to ensure their full-time attention to theassigned jobs; for the sake of the rightworking spirit, they are never considered asour ‘paid employees’ and the CCT the‘employer.’

For the last 17 years of our existence our‘Team’ has rendered excellent service to theanimal/human community and has enhancedour reputation globally, as amongst the bestservice organizations in the world.

The CCT ‘Board of trustees’ is merely acustodian of the public fund/grant which isaccrued, and to give direction to subsequentproper utilization of it for the cause of themutes.

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Ritual Sacrifice

The finest plans are always ruined by the littleness of those who ought to carry themout, for the Emperor himself can actually do nothing. ~Bertolt Brecht

of human sacrifice. Local policerefused to register the complaintof the mother of the missing boy.

In another report by IANS fromPatna, financially affected by thedrought of 2008 preceded by adevastating flood, rural people ofBihar were forced to give upsacrificial slaughtering of goatsduring Durga Puja and Dusserah.Importance of money overappeasement of God has thussaved many of the goats.

In a recent report by IANS (Nov30, 2010), century old tradition ofanimal sacrifice on religiousfestivals has been done away withby the erstwhile royal family ofNabadwip following sustainedcampaign by the animal welfaregroup Compassionate Crusaders.This gesture by the royal familyhas inspired Nabadwip CentralRas Committee to take upawareness programme among allpuja organizers against animalsacrifice. The drive byCompassionate Crusaders indifferent districts of West Bengalagainst animal sacrifice hasprompted many religious bodiesincluding the DakshineswarTemple authority to stop thismedieval practice. AnimalCrusaders’ campaign since 2002against animal sacrifice at

Kalighat Temple foundjustification in the Kolkata HighCourt’s observation of September2006 on a petition that the templeis a tourist place and visitors couldnot be subject to the sight ofopen bloodbath. Our protestforced King Gyanendra of Nepalto abandon animal sacrificeduring his last visit in Kolkata in2002. We condemn shedding ofanimal’s blood in the name ofreligion and highlighted this byorganising a Blood DonationCamp on the day of Kali Puja 2004collection wherefrom was givento the Haemophilia Society ofEastern India.

Times of India reported (October1, 2009) ritualistic sacrifice of a 5year old boy on Dusserah nightat Chandrapur in a gory example

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Islam on AnimalsAllah loves all creatures and Islamforbids cruelty to animals. Since allcreatures are the children of Allah,He holds as the dearest, thosepeople who are kind to fellowcreatures. Kind treatment of thedumb animals especially those heldcaptive by the humans and madeto work for them or to provide fleshand dairy produce for humanconsumption must not be treatedcruelly. This ruling of Islam appliesirrespective of countries andcircumstances. It also applies to themethod of killing of animals forflesh to serve as food. “Feed for thelove of Allah, the indigent, theorphan and the captive, (saying)‘….feed you for the sake of Allahalone; no reward do we desire fromyou, nor thanks.’(76:8-9)The righteous person does notforget his responsibility towardslooking after the needs of the beastof burden and sees that the Islamspirit of not overworking them, notill treating them is never violated.Natural body parts of the animalsmeant for their protection shouldbe kept unharmed and cruel actslike cutting their manes or tails orcastrating a male animal should notbe resorted to.HuntingHunting for sport is forbidden inIslamic teaching. Other than forfood or any other useful purpose,no animal life should be taken.Killing only for a just cause wherethe ‘just cause’ is explained by theMessenger of Allah as ‘He kills toeat, not to simply chop off its headand then throw it away’. It isforbidden to hunt animals that canbe tamed and may be properlyslaughtered in due course.

Allah does not approve deliberatecruelty other than in animals andbirds bestowed with killing instinctby Allah Himself to prey for food asnatural predators.Only trained animals are to be usedfor hunting. A game if eatenpartially by the hunting dog beforethe hunter reaches it, should not beeaten. Slaughter the hunted animalif it is still alive only in the halal way.Only efficient weapons like sword,spear or bullet should be used forhunting to minimise cruelty to theanimal. Killing a wounded animalby throwing stones or clubbing itis totally forbidden.“Forbidden to you are the flesh ofthat which has died a natural death,and that which has been killed bystrangling or beating or by fallingor by being gored, and that whichhas been (partially) eaten by a wildbeast expect that which you makelawful by slaughtering (before hisdeath)… (5:4). This prohibitionreveals both Allah’s kindness toanimals as well as concern forhuman beings. While humans mustnot harm themselves by meat froman animal that might have diedfrom eating something poisonousitself, or that was diseased, animalsin their care should not die ofdisease and malnutrition and if ananimal in their charge becomesdiseased, either a cure will besought for it, or it will be humanelyslaughtered.Blood SportThe Blessed Prophet forbade anyso called ‘sport’ which involvedgoading animals into fighting eachother, a common enough practicein his time. By the same principle,

all modern existing blood sportssuch as fox-hunting, big gamehunting,badger,bear or dog-baiting, or fights to the deathbetween cockerels, are alsocondemned.The Luxury TradeKilling seals for fur for use as luxurygarments is abhorrent to a Muslim.The Prophet does not approve ofwasteful killing of animals just tosatisfy the wealthy. However, bodyparts of dead animals may beutilised.Ibn Abbas recorded: The freed maidservant of the Prophet’s wifeMaymunah was given a sheep andit died. The Prophet passed by itscarcass and said: ‘Why did you nottake its skin to be tanned and useit? They replied: ‘But it is dead.’ TheProphet said ‘What is prohibited iseating it’.Factory FarmingSome modern methods of livestockfarming cruelly deprive the animalsof all their enjoyment of life. Theyare kept in cramped and darkconditions that make their lives notonly miserable but also shortened.With artificial enhancement of thebodies of the farm animals with notenough space, these animals sufferutmost misery. This insensitive wayof distressing animals beforeslaughter is forbidden.Animals In ConfinementSome animals are kept in appallingconditions either for factory-farming purposes, or in zoos. It’sagainst the spirit of Islam to keepany animal tied up, in dirtyconditions or confined in a smallspace just for human convenience.

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Islam on AnimalsThe Prophet once made hiscompanions free two little captivebirds. Muslims believe that humanswho treat animals and birds in acruel manner will be answerable fortheir actions on the Day ofJudgment.Animal Experiment andVivisectionAnimals are subjected to laboratoryexperiments for various purposescausing them pain and distress.While using them for medicalresearch experiments may benefithumanity, often the purpose iscosmetic like using them for testingtheir reactions to varioussubstances, even to cigarettes. Ithas been commonplace in ourmodern world for variousexperiments to be tried out onanimals for all sorts of reasons.Some of these are genuinelybeneficial to humanity, and involveprogress in medicine and medicalwelfare. Others are for cosmeticpurposes, or involve testingreactions to various substances,even to cigarettes. Following theprinciple of compassion andkindness towards all creations ofAllah, any experimentation simplyfor reasons of luxury goods orvanity, are totally forbidden.Even for medical progress, theremust be reason enough to justifycruel experiments on animals.BrandingThe Prophet prohibits branding ofany part of animal’s body exceptthe hind quarters. “Do not brandany animal except on the part of itsbody furthest from its face.”(Hadith)

Prophet’s Kindness Towards CatsThere are numerous storiesrecounting the Prophet’s kindnessto animals, especially cats. A famousone involves a cat that had givenbirth to kittens on his cloak. Ratherthan disturbing them, Prophet tooka knife and cut round them agenerous part of his cloak as theirblanket. Nafi and Ibn Umarrecorded that: A woman waspunished because she kept a cattied up until it died, and she wasthrown into Hell. She had notprovided her with food or drink andhad not freed her so that she couldeat the insects of earth. (Muslim5570 & 6346).Prophet regarded the cats that livedalongside humans as part of thefamily. He even used the water theyhad sipped for his ablutions withoutregarding as unclean.Halal SlaughterThe Muslims consider Halal to bethe quickest and most painless wayof killing animals with prayer in thename of Allah. ‘O’ believers! Eat ofthe good things that we haveprovided for you, and be gratefulto Allah, if it is Him you worship. Hehas only forbidden you carrionmeat and blood and the flesh ofpigs, and that on which any nameother than the name of Allah hasbeen invoked.’(2:173; 5:3)Shaddad b.Aus has recorded “TrulyAllah has commanded goodness ineverything; so when you kill, kill ina good way, and when youslaughter, slaughter in a good way.Every one of you should make hisknife sharp and let the slaughteredanimal die comfortably. (Muslim4810).There is growing trend

towards vegetarianism amongMuslims but this is purely a matterof individual conscience. It is notcompulsory to eat meat to be agood Muslim.Muslims do not agree with thewestern methods of slaughter inwhich animals are supposed to bestunned electrically beforeslaughter. The stunning often killsthem. They maintain that to cut thethroat with a very sharp knife is theleast painful method and notelectrocution. The slaughtering isdone by either cutting the throator by piercing the hollow of thethroat. The best way is to cut thewindpipe, the gullet, and the twojugular veins.When Muslims kill an animal, theyhave to observe certain rules. Theknife that will kill the beast is neverto be sharpened in front of it. Thecreature is to go to its death in akind atmosphere, well fed andwatered, not in the slaughterhouseambience of torture and terror.Islam prohibits slaughter of oneanimal in front of another for thesame reason. Animal should bekilled quickly while the prayer isbeing said.Some Muslims refuse to eat anymeat unless they know for certainthat it is halal, but it would seemfrom the Prophet’srecommendation that this is anextremist attitude.Aisah recordedthat the Prophet was once told thatpeople bring us meat and we donot know whether they havementioned the name of Allah overit or not. Shall we eat it or not? TheHoly Prophet replied ‘Mention thename of Allah and eat.’(Bhukhari).

~ Colonel MZU Siddiquie

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Exploitation of the mutes

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious,Most Merciful

Thanks be to Allah and prayers andpeace upon the noblest of all hismessengers, Mohammed bin Abdullah,Allah's blessings and peace be upon him,upon his family, companions andwhoever had followed them with pietytill the day of judgment and upon allprophets and messengers.

Mr Ahmed El Sherbeeny the Lawyerbefore the court of Cassation andChairman of the Board of Directors ofthe Egyptian Society of Animal Friendshas submitted a letter including arequest of a statement of the Islamic lawopinion in two matters:

The first matter is about the opinion ofthe Islamic law with regard to those whotorture the animal at the time of itsslaughter by committing acts thatcontradict treating it with mercy.

The second matter is about the opinionof the Islamic law with regard totransporting the animals for longdistances from one country to anotherby means that do not observe the safetyof the animal or treating it with leniencyin the manner mentioned in detail in hisletter. To answer the foregoing, we say:

First: The Islamic law has made it a mustthat the animal would be treated at thetime of its slaughter with leniency andby the means that guarantee treating itwith mercy. All this is included in thegoodwill which was ordered by theProphet(Allah's Peace and Blessings beUpon Him) in his true saying(Hadith) inwhich he says: "Allah almighty hasdictated goodwill in everything :if youkill, you perfect the killing, if youslaughter you perfect the slaughter. Inslaughtering one must sharpen theblade and comfort the animal beforeslaughtering it" narrated by Muslim. This

Prophetic saying indicates thatslaughtering the animal must be carriedout with leniency and mercy. This is someof what is understood by the wordgoodwill mentioned in the propheticsaying and what is understood fromrequesting the sharpening of the bladewith which the animal shall beslaughtered so that the animal wouldnot be in pain from the slaughter by thedull blade. This is what is meant explicitlyby the saying of the Prophet, Allah'sPeace be Upon Him, "Comfort the animalthat will be slaughtered."

To satisfy such order, it is required thatwhatever comforts the animal until itsslaughter must be done."

It has been mentioned in the trueprophetic traditions what attestsforbidding the sharpening of theslaughtering tool before the animal thatwill be slaughtered. The Prophet(Allah'sPeace and Blessings be Upon Him) sawa man sharpening his knife before theanimal that he was about to slaughter,so he forbade him from doing so andtold him, "Do you want to slaughter ittwice, once with sharpening the bladebefore it and once more by cutting itsthroat!?"

It has also been mentioned in thetraditions narrated that Imam Aly(mayAllah be pleased with him) prohibitedthe slaughter of sheep before each otheror any other animals so that the feelingof the animal would not be hurt in itslast moments.

These evidences and others attest thatany act that contradicts leniency with

at the time of slaughtering it – in themanner mentioned in the question indetail – is considered a sinful andforbidden act and does not agree withthe leniency with the animal that Islamcalls for. This is the answer for the firstquestion.

Second: With regard to the secondquestion, we hereby say that the call ofIslam to be lenient with the animal andto treat it with mercy includes all casesthat necessitate such mercy, amongwhich is transporting the animal. Suchtransportation must be carried out by acomfortable mean that guarantees itssafety, prohibits its torture, threateningits life or afflicting it with diseases thatare contagious to the human being orthird party. This is deduced for theProphetic saying of the Prophet(Allah'sBlessings and Peace be upon him), "Anygood deed rendered in a hardship is likean almsgiving" and his saying, PeaceUpon Him, "A woman entered hell firefor detaining a cat which she neither fednor left to eat the leftovers of the land."

These two sayings and others attest thattreating the animal must be built on itsmercy in all cases, among which istransporting it from one place toanother.

Torturing the animal at the time of itstransport – pursuant to what ismentioned in the letter of the questioner– is considered prohibited and forbiddenin the law of Islam if the case is asmentioned in the question.

Allah is Higher and knows Best.Azhar Sheikh ImamDr/ Mohamed Sayed Tantawy(Signed)24 April, 2008Seal : Azhar Sheikhdom

Authorship and translationScientific BureauFOUAD NEMAH14(a) Sherif, St Heliopolis,Tel : 2567808 – 450621937, Kasr El Nil Street, Cairo Tel : 3922124Accurate True Translation

Egypt Fatwa : A fatwa onthe issue of live export

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Top Dog

We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded thisto us in the uncritical canine attachment. ~ George Eliot

Who could I have as a role modelof honesty and dignity? I revaluedmany a persons as I had met andadmired in books, but nonecould fully satisfy me due to somereasons or other. Media alsofall short in my expectationregarding this.

Finally, I settle on my dog, who ismore of a noble person than acanine soul. I call him ChhotoBaba (mini father), he is Bhutu tomy wife, Gunda to my elder sonBappa and Sabcheye Bhalo (thebest) to my younger son Bubai.We may call him by differentnames but the person remainsthe same responding always withfervour and zeal as usual epitomeof honesty, dignity andcompassion. We love him,facilitate him. He is a top dog, tomy family and to all who havecome across him, of course.

Why is he so special? I should citea couple of examples. When wego out of our house for routineworks or jobs, he feels anxious;becomes lonely and melancholic,can not find peace with himself.Chhoto Baba becomes normaland takes his dinner only after allof us in ‘his’ family return. Onemore thing he does, almost like a

‘ritual’, is to welcome each of usat the door.

Gunda has some specialmoments reserved for ‘his’ Bappa.He can premeditate Bappa’shome-coming and waits patientlybeside the main entrance. As soonas he sees Bappa enter thedrawing room, all his energyexplodes and he starts runninglike a ‘mad dog’ from one roomto another dodging throughfurniture and other household‘impediments’ with Maradona-like skills. This ecstasy continuesfor about ten minutes! Finally hestumbles at Bappa’s feet,expressing in no uncertain terms,his worries and subsequent relief& happiness at the return of his‘elder brother.’ Not that he getshis company for long; Bappa and‘his’ Gunda does not share a

room, otherwise. Still thisparticular gesture of love andmental intimacy touches ourheart deeply, to say the least.

A dog like my Chhoto Baba doesnot require any pedigree and assuch, I am happy to concede thathe has none. His mother was astreet dog and gave birth to mybeloved pet at the back of ourgarden in the afternoon of KaliPuja, ten years back. He is nicelooking dog resembling a Huskyand for me it was love at first sightfor both Manisha, my wife andme; the love that has increasedmanifold as the years go by!

For Chhoto Babu, his love mayelude the most sensitive pen todescribe its magnitude. He is evervigilant, ever loving. He spendsalmost the whole day just sittingor lying in front of our drawingroom window opening towardsthe main road, only to keep tabon the commuters. He feels it ishis ‘duty’ to be vigilant. This senseof responsibility comes from one’swithin, and in this respect myChhoto Baba has surpassedeveryone, human and non-human!

~ Debasish Bandyopadhyay

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Animal Care - Clinic

Real beauty isn't aboutsymmetry or weight or makeup;it's about looking life right in

the face and seeing all itsmagnificence reflected

in your own.....

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Chupee

The cat has always been associated with the moon. Like the moon it comes to life at night, escaping from humanityand wandering over housetops with its eyes beaming out through the darkness. ~ PATRICIA DALE-GREEN

Chupee was feeling a little lostafter Machu & Pichu left the houseas they grew up. I was alsooffloaded of my daily duty oflooking for them in every nook &corner of the house. My nephewTitun often regrets their absencethough, his daily playtime withthem after the schools he missesbadly. Machu & Pichu were almost‘feline twins’, both had black silkyfur all over. Pichu had two tinyspecks of white on his foreheadand right paw. As naughty kittensthey would romp around all thetime under a pair of vigilant eyesof their mom Chupee who wouldwatch indulgently, interspersedwith a scolding purr sometimes.Almost a year passed as theirthoughts lingered. Chupee gottwo more furballs, one snowwhite and the other one wolf gray.She had chosen a corner of mystudio behind an old canvas asher whelping space. I christenedthem Changkurri & Mangkurri.Titun was ecstatic once more! Hisdaily ‘playtime ritual’ started allover again. Chang & Mang werealso becoming bolder by the day,tottering round all over the placewith intermittent nap coiledinside my colour mixing bowls. I

would click to record their dailypranks!

As our shifting date approaches,Titun became anxious and keptbugging me with his one pointquery… “will Grannies allow youto take the kitty family along intoyour new flat, Apu uncle?” Hewould get dispirited by my reply,that our new flat is too small forthem to have a free run and maydisturb the neighbours there!

Now Titun has started suggestinga new option…“why don’t youcontact the CompassionateCrusaders and keep them atKaruna Kunj, at least they wouldget other feline company there!”I couldn’t agree more.

The D-day had finally arrived, Iwas sitting, a little distracted, onmy studio chair. A while back I

have fed them, Titun also pettedthem goodbye before leaving forhis school, couldn’t look at myeyes. Then came the van to takethem to Karuna Kunj. I carriedthem on my lap and put themgently, the driver shut the door. Ipeeped through the van-window,Changkurri & Mangkurri werehuddled together in a corner, alittle scared. Chupee kept staringat me with a blank look. The vanengine started, Chupee wasmoving gradually away from mysight. I just stood on the road,thinking of the day I picked her, atiny furball, from in front of myhouse. I stood there as Chupeeand her Changkurri & Mangkurrifaded away from my frostedeyes..!

~ Koustuv Bandyopadhyay

Chupee,my feline friend

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Animal Care - Mobile

As far as we candiscern, the sole

purpose ofhuman existenceis to kindle a lightin the darkness of

mere being.Carl Gustav Jung

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http://www.animalcrusaders.org

Our Team ofWebmasters with

the Governor

(Excerpts from Governor's Speech)

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Outreach Programmes

The too frequent incidents in therecent past of mauling of villagersby Sunderbans tigers raise manyquestions, especially at a timewhen man animal conflict isseemingly on the rise. It alsosharply brings into focus themethods used by the ForestDepartment to deal with theanimal’s rescue. One incidentapparently took place when atigress strayed into a locality inthe Sunderbans. The villagersreported the animal's incursionbut the Forest Department’sdelayed response set in panic.With no authorities around, thevillagers felt nervous and did theobvious act of chasing the tigresswhich took refuge in a tree. ForestDepartment officials on theirarrival were faced with a mob ofangry villagers.

The Forest Departmentattempted to tranquilise theanimal lodged in a tree. Duringthe process, a villager namedAshutosh Dhali was reportedlyasked by the Forest Departmentofficials to check if the tiger hadbeen sedated. He attempted todo so with the help of a couple ofhis colleagues. And it was thenthat the tiger rose from itsapparent stupor and pounced onhim. Dhali was mauled and had

to be sent to the SSKM hospitalin Kolkata.

With the circulation of mediareports displaying video footageshowing villagers using bamboopoles to hit the animal and peltingit with stones, justifiable outragepoured out regarding the crueltymeted out to a sentient creature.When the tigress was eventuallycaught, public attention wasdrawn on the method of herrelease. The animal was keptunder observation and was finallyreleased under the prying eyes ofcameras. A vigorous debateensued on how the tigress wastreated and there werestatements from the ForestDepartment insinuating theirsuccess concerning the captureand release of the animal.

Ashutosh Dhali however layunattended in the hospital. Hereported that his plight wasignored by the hospitalauthorities. The CompassionateCrusaders Trust then made amove that must have startledmany. Ignoring the protestationsof the Forest Department thatDhali had never been asked tosee if the tigress had beensedated, CompassionateCrusaders Trust sent theirrepresentatives to the hospital tolook into Dhali's welfare. Whilstmost people were highlightingthe plight of the tigress singularly,the organisation took a step tounderpin the human's state ofaffairs. Compassionate CrusadersTrust praised Ashutosh Dhali andhis colleagues for helping tocapture the tigress andmentioned that such an effortwas in the best interest of animaland human alike. Theorganization even went so far asto offer him a job on recuperation.

The incident shows us an aspectof human animal conflict wherehumans live in proximity to wildanimals. And whilst there is notan iota of justification for cruelmob behaviour on animals, panicreaction of humans is also tooobvious. Human animal conflictis everywhere throwing aformidable challenge toconservation efforts to balancebetween human rights andanimal protection both being ofequal importance.

Sunderbans….human & animals orhuman versus animals!

Asutosh Dhali

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Lord- an inspiration

A true testament to the resilienceof the human spirit lies in the taleof Debabrata Sarkar, aka Lord.

Lording it all Lord lost his father Bibek BrataSarkar, the first supervisor of theCompassionate Crusaders’ Centrefor Animal Welfare (TollygungeClinic), at the tender age of 9,when he was studying in class III.However, this sudden shock in theyoungster’s formative years didnot take away his desire to do wellin studies. This year, Lord provedhis mettle by passing the HigherSecondary examination of theWest Bengal Board from RaharaRamkrishna Mission Boys’ HomeSchool and since joined B.Comcourse of the Calcutta University.Lord’s mother, Gitasree Sarkar, hasbeen working as a supervisor inour Tollygunge Clinic,which was

built almost single handedly byher husband on the erstwhile OldRussa Road Pump Room giftedby Calcutta MunicipalCorporation. Kudos to the effortsof this tenacious individual!

Compassionate Law-enforcers- Phulbagan Police Station, Kolkata Police

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During one of my village trips, Iwas among a group of villagers,talking with them. I was unhappyto find the children mostlyunhealthy and asked the elderswhy it was so. ‘Why will not thatbe’, bang came the reply from anelderly man. ‘All the paddy fields’,he said, used to grow copiousamount of tasty small fish, whichwas the protein support for most

For a successful technology,reality must take precedence

over public relations,for Nature cannot be fooled

Richard Feynman

Eco-Logicalof the villagers, particularly thesmall children. ‘Because of the useof pesticides, there is no fishgrowing in our paddy fields anymore. This was one of the bestnarratives I have come across inmy life which carries with itself aphenomenal amount of scientificinformation and direction to act.

Ask any aged villager, she will tellyou that many bird species arelost, tree species are not beingfound or frogs are absent. Frogsused to consume 20% of theinsects in the paddy fields. Thepoint, however, is that villagersknow it and they apply the

same pesticides as well.Understandably, they have beencaught in a trap where they areperforce to use more and morechemical fertilisers and pesticidesto break even. Although bio-fertilisers are available, farmersare not showing keenness togradually switch over to a lowerchemical fertiliser-pesticideregime. Unless the matter isaddressed on a war footing, ourcountryside will be irreversiblylost to lifeless landscapes.

~ Dr. Dhrubajyoti Ghosh

The threatenedcountryside:the agrochemicalextremism

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Animals as FoodChicken in a U.S.slaughterhouseImagine for a moment that you area chicken in a U.S. slaughterhouse.As you make your way toward aviolent death, you are dumped outof your crate and your legs areviolently forced into shackles so thatyou are hanging upside down. Infact, there’s a good chance that yourlegs will end up breaking¯ but noone will care. As you hang upsidedown, struggling to escape, you aredragged through an electrifiedwater bath that’s meant to paralyzeyou, not render you unconscious(of course, being renderedunconscious would be kindconsidering what will happen next).A blade will cut your neck as theblood slowly drains from your body.If you’re lucky, you’ll loseconsciousness. But many birds missthe blade and are still consciousduring the final step of the killingprocess, when they are run throughthe scalding-hot water of adefeathering tank.Source: PeTA, USA

Never, never be afraid to dowhat is right, especially if the

well-being of a person oranimal is at stake. Society’s

punishments are smallcompared to the wounds weinflict on our soul when we

look the other wayMartin Luther King

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Zoonotic ConcernDisease and lifeDisease is a fact of life. Of course,the definition of disease dependson the point of view. To humanbeings, tuberculosis is a disease.But to the tubercle bacillus,human beings are a habitat andlife source. Similarly, the earth is ahabitat and life source for humanbeings. But to the earth, humanhabitation is a disease, and humanbeings are arch parasites. To thepristine earth, the coming ofHomo sapiens signaled the onsetof a chronic, global illness, theoutcome of which is still in doubt.

-From My Armchair :W.W.Armistead[Dr. Willis W. Armistead of Knoxville, Tenn.,a former American Veterinary MedicalAssociation (AVMA) president, died April18, 2006, at the age of 89. Retired in 1987as emeritus vice president of theUniversity of Tennessee, he was thefounding dean of the UT College ofVeterinary Medicine and, before that,dean of the veterinary colleges at TexasA&M (1953-1957) and Michigan State(1957-1974) universities.]

Banga Sammelanconference on‘Medicine In TheMillennium’Science City,Calcutta,December 28, 1999

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Whitey

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Sampson & Tiki

- Ringo Chinoy, USA

In memory of“Sampson” and “Tiki”

who are dearly missed,and who taught me

Firsthand the Joys of Fatherhood…..”

“Dear Lord, as we start each dayThere’s just one gift for which I prayPlease watch over all dogs everywhereAnd bless them with someone to care.

Watch over the pups with plenty to eat,And the hungry strays out on the street ,Those getting treats every time they yap,And those who struggle for every scrap.

Those that sleep on nice soft beds,Those with hard ground under their heads,Those who play with girls and boys,And those who never have any toys.

Those kept clipped and brushed and clean,And scruffy ones that don’t smell too clean,Those that get to ride in cars,And those that sit in cages with bars.

Those that fail obedience school,Dig up the garden, snore and drool,Chew up your stuff, chase the catAnd yet they’re loved in spite of that.

And those that are as good as gold,But left out to shiver in the cold-Chained up and and forgotten there,Longing for a warm home to share.

Please God, as we end each night,Help more people do what’s right.For every dog they meet, to do their best,And send Your comfort to all the rest.”

~ Janice Wolf.

Courtesy : Mrs. Shernaz Chinoy

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Zoo or Ani-jail

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Zoo or Ani-jail

Article 51-A(g) of theIndian Constitution- TheFundamental Duties :" It shall be thefundamental duty ofevery citizen of India toprotect and improve theNatural Environmentincluding forests, lakes,rivers and wildlife, and tohave compassion for allliving creatures."

Rob Ladilow ofZoo Check, Canada& Poorva Joshipuraof PeTA, India

We were the first organization inthe world to file a case, onMismanagement & Grossviolation of Law in Alipore Zoo inthe High Court, way back inNovember 1998, bringing CentralZoo Authority's role as the

licensing authority into focus andmaking it accountable. Our caseresulted in release of theelephants of Kolkata zoo from theshackles on 1st March,1999, andlot of improvementssubsequently and even effortgetting a space outside the citylimits for a less cramped zoo.Couple of years back the Indian

chapter of PeTA, USA took thedetails of that case from CCT andgot the Mumbai zoo elephantsreleased.

The Indian Zoo Inquiry; a review ofconditions in the Zoos of India byCompassionate Crusaders Trust &Zoo Check, Canada 2006.

Life imprisonment withno court of appeal !

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The roadside tea shop next to ourclinic closes at around nine andthe benches outside becomenight shelters for many. Once Isaw a gypsy couple sleeping therewith a pie dog, a puppy. All threeof them would leave earlymorning and come back at night.One day the shopkeeperappeared before they coulddisappear and there was atantrum. The sound and shoutsmade me sneak out of mywindow on the first floor of theclinic. What I saw was thefrightened look in the puppy’seyes and its desperate effort tohide. By the time I came back withsome ‘puppy breakfast’ they haddisappeared!

After a couple of days, I saw thepuppy repeatedly vomiting. As Iwas in a hurry to go to my villagehome urgently, I requested mycolleagues to take it in for somelife support treatment. After Icame back on the third day, thepuppy was reported ‘lost’.Searching frantically, I could findit in the evening hidden under aheap of broken tiles, fast asleepbut emaciated, dehydrated andwith sub-normal temperature justabout faintly pounding heart.After a few days’ treatment, herecovered and disappeared again.

A few days passed and I almostforgot the episode as it is a routinekind of job at our clinic. Atmidnight one day, I came backafter attending an emergencyand opening the clinic gate,suddenly got a nudge on my leg.The same puppy was squeakingas if trying to ‘tell’ me somethinglike “you have saved my life, can’tyou give me a home now?!”….myyoung daughter reactedimmediately and offered her owndinner to Laloo, the name shegave it.

Since that day, Laloo ispermanently stationed at the gateof our clinic greeting each andevery patient and owner with agenerous wag of his tail“saying”….”come on in, I owe mylife to this clinic!”

~ Subhas Kalsar

[Subhas Kalsar is the chief para-vet andthe livewire of our 24hour animalhelpline at the CompassionateCrusaders’ Centre for Animal Welfare,popular as the Tollygunge Clinic.]

BholaOne morning in 1999 just afterDurga Puja as I was busy in theclinic with patients, I heard acommotion and came out to findthe waiting owners chasing a piedog away. They complained it wastrying to enter the clinic.In the evening when all of us, theveterinarian, para-vets wererelaxing a little after a hectic day,we saw a tan dog enter the clinicand bark. After initial confusion,our senior para-vet Shankar Basakgently approached the dog whichlowered the tail in submissionright away. A sore inside one ofthe hind legs was found on thedog. Dr. P.Banerjee and SubhasKalsar started necessarytreatment. We christened himBhola. After a little rest, Bholawalked out of the clinic in peace.Next morning we were anxiousto find Bhola for dressing but hewas nowhere to be seen! Whenthe day got us busy, Bholaappeared suddenly and we allwere relieved. He got histreatment done and left, the sameroutine continuing for three moredays. He did not come after that.I saw Bhola again almost after ayear. He was running a high feverand was given treatment andplaced in the space just outsidethe clinic main door. By theevening Bhola had left. We hopeto see him again whenever heneeds treatment, till then…! Godbless him.

~ Amar Nath Ghosh[Amar Nath Ghosh is the In-Charge ofour clinic.]

Laloo

Reminiscences : 24 x 7

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Two touching snippets from our24x7 animal care experience!

The mute sufferers

Where is the Life we havelost in living?

Where is the wisdom wehave lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge wehave lost in information?

T.S. Eliot

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Compassionate Poet

Sightseeing - Finding happinesswithin is the true pleasure achievedby giving away what we seek for us.Him - When one loves, sense of selfis replaced with the sense of love forthe person.Desperate - Hope of being unitedwith your lover within the limitedtime of life creates desperation andconflict.Worth remembering - Even afterlife deserts us, there is a Voice to listento in the silence of Death.A Time to Stand - There is nodelaying the moments of positivethoughts in the life passing by fast.Such thoughts are eternal.Life - ‘I’ and ‘Me’ limit the self fromexploring the true knowledge.Beauty - Beauty may not be noticedbut the beauty of love is universallyvisible.Empty - Desires can never be fulfilledtill the mind is free from them andwe begin to live freely.Positivity - Seek a source whoknows it all to become an energythat does it all.Justify - Almighty is perceived indimensions not permitted to theconscious mind where judgmentresides.Freedom of Speech - An intenselycompassionate communicationdescribing misery of the sufferersWisdom - The only wisdom is to seekthe eternal. The wise seeks it.Illusion - Our life is a movie wherewe dress up to play our parts. Motivesare known only at the end.Look - Look at real who wants to beseen. Live with real to possess it all.

Service - We came here to serve andthis is the only action that definesone.Imagination - Remaining soft andcalm like a rabbit in adversity is truetest of one’s nature.Love - God’s will is not to sacrifice alamb but to give it life.Prayer - An expression of mydevotion to a religion of truthAnswer - Answer her call by livingher message. It is heard in pin dropsilence!Last call - Death is the ultimate callof God to test the faith in us of Hispresence.Prayer - A list of my desiresBeautiful - Beauty reveals her secretsto those who know her depthintimately.Prayer - Ego dies as Self emerges.Day Dreams - Awareness radiatesfrom one who experiences to theobserver, the latter becoming a partof the process.Youth - Forever Young!Inaudible - Listen to animals whosesilence breaks my heart.Told - We should not be afraid of thesights and sounds of the sufferingpeople and animals for they teachus a lot.Mummy - A portrait of my beautifulmother

Voice - Actions speak louder thanwords.Religion - God has no religion. Godis love. – GandhiHide and seek - Awareness finds outhidden pain and suffering.Truth - Truth being transparent issimple and clear holding a power toset one free.Tears - Our grieving memories makeup for the physical absence.Snow - Future – who knows?Time - I am formless!Farewell - His soul lives forever, notlimited by time. I miss you more thanyou ever imagined.Love - I love you!Time - Waiting at the gates ofeternity to reunite me with my fatherSound - The Almighty blesses withvision when our self emerges afterdeath of ego.Insight - Insight brings vision to seethat life of spirit begins and endswith love.Life - Seeded with grace this life ofmineSong - Uni-Verse – One song.Animals have a voice inaudible to uscreating a tune that’s symphony ofsound -love.Nibbles Goes Green: SummaryIn the book, a bunny rabbit namedNibbles learning the magical powerof his thoughts explores a wonderfulworld where Nature comes alive toshow the importance of a healthyenvironment. Her adventures takeher to another part of the worldwhere things aren’t right withoutanybody knowing what is missing.This journey of discovery beginsbecause of a special attachmentNibbles has with a tree, her bestfriend. Nibbles and her friends showa child how to live happily and makea better world.

A Private ViewBy Ruchi KohliA short summary of myprivate views on each of thepoems in “A Private View”

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Sunderbans

The Sundarbans forest is theworld’s only mangrove forest withtigers, popularly known as BengalTiger and Sunderbans NationalPark is featured as one of theUnesco- World Heritage Site.

Since last couple of years theinvasion of tiger in villages ofSunderbans grew rapidly. Reasonsare diverse, shrinking habitat dueto climate change and cyclonesSidr and Aila, which left behind atrail of devastation since 2007,forced many a Royal Bengal tigerto migrate from Bangladesh intothe Indian side of the Sundarbansisland. Wildlife experts say a goodnumber of tigers might havecome into the Indian forests insearch of food. The number ofdocumented tiger attacks hassoared. According to villagers,there have been 15 already thisyear, six of them fatal. The ranksof the tiger widows are swelling,and the horrifying tales aremultiplying. In the village ofDeulbari in Kultali, everyoneknows someone who has beenattacked by a tiger. Until now,humans and tigers have coexisteduneasily in this outpost in theSundarbans area of West Bengal.This year has been different. Thetigers, having been uprootedfrom its usual terrain, hasdeveloped a taste for humanflesh. In a nutshell, the reasons ofthe invasion is shortage of foodand shrinkage of their corehabitat.

Villagers are now more aware ofTiger conservation and theVillagers’ view are also no lessdiverse. ‘There is a lot of mentalpressure trying to tackle thissituation, ‘We have always livedwith tigers. It is part and parcel oflife here,’ ‘This conflict willcontinue because the man-eatersare looking for humans. ‘Oncethey have the taste of humanflesh, they will always look for it.’‘We love tigers, we can’t hatethem. They are unavoidable, theyare part of the place. There are alot of tigers around now, butwithout the tigers it would not bethe same jungle.’ “We’ve not seensuch a rise in the past 25 years.”

Better late than never, the year2009 started with a positive inputfrom the authorities; an expertcommittee comprising seniorofficials from the related statedepartments, several wildlifeexperts, especially those who dealwith tiger-related issues, expertsfrom the Zoological Survey ofIndia, representatives from theWildlife Institute of India andfaculty members of CalcuttaUniversity’s zoologicaldepartment, is to be set up tomonitor the activities of maneaters, as such big cats are called.It will try to find out why the tigersare attacking villagers - officially,there have been at least six suchcases in the past year, but manymore are suspected to have goneunrecorded. It will also suggeststeps to prevent such crises. Letus hope for the best !

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Tiger straying into villages….. some stray thoughts !

1. Two Wild Boars in the sweet-waterpond. Ajmalmari # 7.SBR

2. Track mark of Spotted Deer. KalashIsland.SBR

3. Peerkhali. Red cloth (locally called“Jhamti”) indicating the Humancasualty. STR

4. In search for the Pugmark. ForestGuard Pradip. Kalash Island. SBR

5. A Checkered Keelbak hunting a LyathaFish. Kalash.SBR

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Wildlife Rescue

When you defile thepleasant streams And thewild bird's abiding place,You massacre a milliondreams And cast yourspittle in God's face.

John Drinkwater

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Campaigns

If liberty means anything at all,it means the right to tell people what they

do not want to hear. ~ George Orwell

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Youngest CrusaderDwaipayan Das becamean active volunteer of theCompassionate Crusadersat the age of four years,way back in 1994. He hadbeen a keen rescuer ofpuppies, kittens, fledglingsand would even pluckgrass from his house lawnto feed the passing calves.His first ceremonialassignment at the age ofsix, was of greeting theBritish Deputy High

Commissioner, our guestof honor at the launchingof CCT’s Pet-Aid animalambulance, sponsored bythe RSPCA,UK. At the ageof eight, he also was partof our delegation to theGovernor, for presentationof a memorandum to stopanimal-sacrifice in thename of religion. Hecontinues with his activerescue since the day one.

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6

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Republic Day Parade

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1 Award time-20002 Tableau to campaign for the rights of the captive animals-19993 The moment of national pride

4 & 6 Performers’ campaign for cruelty-free animal life-19985 Mobile animal-care units’ contingent- 2001

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Republic Day Parade

Mobile animal-care units’contingent- 2000

Award time-2001

Award time-2000

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Article ContributorsMrs. Apala ChakravartiFormerly a Reader of the RabindraBharati University.

Mr. Aniruddha ChakrabartiAri, to his friends, is a 24 year oldengineer working at a Solartechnology company in Perth, WesternAustralia. One of his favorite pastimeswas to walk with his friend, a GoldenRetriever named “Monty” spendingtime to enjoy and contemplate life.Though Monty has since passed away,Ari still likes to reflect on the lessonsthat they learned together and sharesone of them with us in his article “TheGolden Rule”.

Mrs. Anita NagAn ardent animal lover. She has beenan article writer and a regularcontributor to the tabloids andmagazines.

Mr. Chandi Das LahiriBetter known as CHANDI, a cartoonistpar excellence of international repute.

Mr. Debasish BandyopadhyayA writer, folklorist, editor and above alla lover of wildlife & nature.

Dr. Dhrubajyoti GhoshA UN Global 500 laureate forconservation of water resources. He isthe Regional Vice Chairman, SouthAsia, Commission on EcosystemManagement, International Union forConservation of Nature (IUCN)

Dr. Jonathan Balcombe, PhDAuthor of “Second Nature: The InnerLives of Animals” (Palgrave Macmillan,March 2010)13518 Ansel Terrace, Germantown, MD20874, USA

Mr. Koustuv BandyopadhyayApu is one the most activecompassionate crusaders. He is a multitalented creative person.

Mr. K.P.S. MenonKPS junior, our Patron, an avid readerand always ready to support the rightcause.

Mrs. Lalitha MenonAptly spiritual and an activesupporter of every good causeprompted by her varied experienceof social problems across the world.She is the wife of our Patron.

Mr. Babi NobisOur Chairman., is an ace wildlifephotographer and works in the areaof tiger conservation too.

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Article Contributors

Mrs. Sudeshna Bose BhanjaDaughter of an illustrious father, LateRathindra Chandra Bose (1918-2003)eminent international cricket umpire& distinguished sports administrator.She is an active member of Angana,the ladies’ cultural club of repute.

Colonel M.Z.U. SiddiquieZahid, An Armoured Corps Officer ofthe Indian Army. He has beendecorated with the gallantry award of“SENA MEDAL” by President of India.Academically inclined, he is a postgraduate in Chemistry, Defence &Strategic Studies & MBA and is nowpursuing his Doctorate. He writes onvarious social and professional issues.Above all a passionate compassionatecrusader.

Ms. Pamela D. Barton M.B.E.Animal activist for five decades withSPCA, HONG KONG.

Ms. Ruchi KohliBorn in New Delhi, India and movedto USA at the age of nine. Took aninterest in writing poetry as a meansto bring about an awareness of thenature of things that take place ineveryday life. Her interests includepolitics, social justice towards allhumans and animals, advancement inmodern medicine and has committedto authoring books as all the proceedsfrom sales are being donated toPhysicians Committee for ResponsibleMedicine. She is presently based inColumbia ,USA

Mr. Rustomji Homusji ModyRussi, our Chairman Emeritus, was bornin 17 January 1918, in Bombay to aprominent Parsi family. His father wasSir Homi Mody, the first Governor ofUnited Provinces. His mother was LadyJerbai.Russi has been a guiding star for the‘mutes’, supporting theCompassionate Crusaders since itsinception.

Ms. Sarbani ChakrabortyA retired school principal andphilanthropist. She has been a ‘friendin need’ for the compassionatecrusaders, supporting both humans &non-humans since the day one.

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Team HRAdvisor

Pawan Kumar Lohia

Executive EditorDebu Chatterjee

ProductionBratin Roy

Arunava DeyAshis Chowdhury

Shyamal DeyPradip ChattopadhyayApu Bandyopadhyay

Partha Sarathi BhattacharyyaAmar Nath Ghosh

Concept & PublisherDebasis Chakrabarti

Picture courtesy

I gazed, and gazed, but little thoughtWhat wealth the show to me had brought..

~ W. Wordsworth

Amar Nath (CCT)Apala Chakravarti

Apu (CCT)Ari (CCT)

Arup (CCT)Biplab (CCT)BWC India

Volunteers (CCT)Dwaipyan (CCT)Gitasree (CCT)

IIM CalcuttaJoellen Secondo

Lalitha Menon (CCT)Media

Priyam (Symbiosis)R K Mission

Sumantra (CCT)Tridib Banik

Tapan ChakrabartiVedika (Symbiosis)Venu Menon Trust

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animal crusaders, · 2011-02-16 · contents animal crusaders • commemorative issue • october...

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