Show some karuna for the strays during corona!

80000 plus - that’s the number of street dogs in Chennai by the most conservative of estimates, some like Wikipedia put this number at 185000. But there is no debate on how they have been affected by the shutdown.

…They are confused, and they are starving.

When you turn off your lights tonight, happy for having navigated through yet another day without social contact, it is exactly this : social contact that the free ranging street animals of the world count on for their daily sustenance. 

The lockdown has been disproportionately harsh on them as humans have retreated and restaurants, roadside eateries and tea shops have shut, leaving the 'streeties' no option but to scavenge their last refuge - the quintessential garbage bins of Chennai. But the plot thickens. Our flash survey revealed something worse than the anything we imagined. With people hibernating, even the garbage bins were no longer abundant.

Starving, confused, restless and moving outside their territories searching for food and water, competition intense for the limited food, fighting and cowering, a cocktail of primal fear and basic instinct - a struggle for survival.

Blue Cross of India - for 56 years the voice for the voiceless - a household name in Chennai, amongst the oldest and arguably the largest and most well known animal welfare organisation in India stepped in to reverse the tide.

With processed food in short supply, our kitchen runs without a break now to cook as many fresh meals as possible every hour of every day. Running to full capacity, yet unable to keep up with so many hungry 'streeties' we have now sought kitchen capacities from a few large hotels to cook as many more meals as possible.

Our back-end team has creatively mobilised grains and ingredients and arranged in-house and outsourced cooking, thus reducing the dependence on scarce and expensive processed foods.

The bravehearts of our out-door teams drive to and walk the streets feeding animals and distributing food to a network of community feeders. Teams such the one featured in this news article with volunteers like Neelagandan cover feeding in the worst hit non-residential areas like the marina, industrial estates and gated office complexes, while other teams drive on different routes to cover far corners to deliver food to our 'last mile' - a network of community feeders, who complement us in what is emerging as one of the best example of deep community participation in a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. 

We are now “all hands on deck” with every available resource going into dealing with this emergency. All this while still continuing to do what we do best, rescue seriously distressed animals, providing medical care for hundreds of in-patient animals and keeping the over 2000 animals in our three locations fed and cared for. 

All this juggling comes at a steep cost, both in terms of employee and volunteer burnout and money. We have quickly used up all reserves in this emergency as our street animal feeding program expands and evolves. This is impacting our working capital for running the shelter in the medium to long term. 

Why Blue Cross when there are so many others?

Short answer - because of how efficiently your donation would be put to work. 

Long answer -

A. We are very creative and frugal in using the funds, not depending on easy solutions like processed food that are more expensive and currently scarce.

B. Much of our work is done by a group of professionals who donate their time and effort on a purely voluntary basis to ensure donations are not eroded by administrative expenses. 

C. Blue Cross of India is the only animal welfare organisation which has been audited by GuideStar and awarded the GuideStar Platinum level certification for transparency.

D. In recognition of all this Ketto has waived the entire fee for this fundraiser - what you donate goes to animals.

How will we use your donation?

-Buy needed grains and ingredients for cooking more meals in our kitchen and in outsource to more hotels

-Buy animal feed for the over 1200 animals in our shelter.

-Order 10 tons of processed animal food so we can further expand feeding activities without cooking limitations

-Order for feed for abandoned cattle and horses that now scavenge on the deserted streets. 

-Buy Fuel and Supplies for running our rescue ambulances and food delivery vehicles to community feeders.

-Buy medical supplies for our rescued animals.

-Care for, foster and eventually rehome scores of pets abandoned due to baseless fear mongering during the pandemic.

-Buy and Install a disinfection walk-through chamber to keep our personnel and shelter safe from COVID.

-Last but not the least buy masks, gloves, hand sanitisers for our outdoor staff and volunteers who brave all odds to rescue and feed animals in distress.

Do check out our work during the lockdown and what’s happening in Chennai now: 

Will Stray Animals Survive The Coronavirus Lockdown?

Despite Coronavirus Lockdown, Chennai Cares For Its Strays

Saving the strays: Good samaritans feed furry friends in Chennai

Blue Cross volunteers ensure strays are fed

Here's a quick update