Sheru

This is the story of real India.

Sheru (a white pup) and his step brothers were born on the roads of Laxmi Park near Kissan Nagar, Thane. This area has a lot of small settlements in place where people who earn their daily wages by selling vegetables, working in houses, etc live.
The people of this area were not very compassionate towards animals as they were used to seeing puppies being run over by vehicles almost everyday. They could do little as they did not even have space to lie down comfortably in their own house, let alone bring an animal into that small space. Many of them had financial issues as well and led a hand to mouth existence.

PAL was alerted to the area by a member Apurva Pradhan. She noticed a puppy lying dead on the road and called us for help. On reaching the place, we saw that the dead pup had already been removed. But that did not stop the remaining litter from running around. The pups were all black, same colour as the mother. We noticed a white pup in the middle of the black pups. On observing the litter for a while, we saw that the mother did not like the white pup and refused to give him any milk or share her food with him.
On asking around we found out that someone had abandoned the white pup in the area.
The area has a huge number of stray dogs but there were no other litters visible and hence it was clear that the white pup was from another area.
The white pup had a few wounds on his body and needed attention. PAL volunteers took him to TSPCA where he was given the required treatment and vaccinated. We brought him back to the area and were really sad that we would have to leave him on the street once again, as PAL does not have a shelter to keep any animals at the moment.
Seeing all of us discuss so gravely about the issue, one of the boys in the huts came forward and said that he would look after the pup. He was soon joined by his brother and his mother. A few of his friends also came along and said they would take care of the white pup and would keep an eye on the rest of the litter, whenever they could, so that they do not come under any vehicles.
We were overwhelmed by the love and sense of responsibility they displayed towards the animals.
PAL went to feed them everyday for around 15 days till the mother and pups looked a little healthier than before. During this time, we also made sure that some amount of food was given to the people living there as well. So it was Dal and Rice from the grocery store for the people and Biscuits, milk and dog food for the dogs in the area everyday!
As days went by, we noticed that the white pup had gained acceptance into the family of the little boy who had volunteered to look after him. The pup now lived in the hut with the rest of the family.
Recently, when we visited the area, we saw that 2 black pups were remaining from the litter and Sheru (white pup) was doing good in the house.
We believe that when human beings are happy, animals will be happy. This is an example of the work that we feel should be done in these sections of the society in order to bring about a change in the mindsets of people.
It does not make much sense to go into a slum area and feed the animals there and turn a blind eye at the people who need our help there. It is important that we look at the picture in a holistic manner and approach the problem in the best way possible. Animal Welfare should always be done, keeping in mind the fact that it is an offshoot or a result of Human Welfare. And for all the animal lovers out there who hate human beings, chill! After all, humans are also just social animals :)