That furry kind of love
Walking in, we’re greeted by at least ten dogs. Dogs, mind you, not tiny little puppies bounding up to you. They swarm around us and we admit to being slightly alarmed. “They don’t bite, right?” Soharni Tennekoon and Shilpa Samaratunge laugh. “These guys wouldn’t bite anyone,” they say, picking up a dog each for a cuddle.
Pix by Indika Handuwela
Sometime later Aranyani’s keeps have settled down. They all insist on being scratched, petted and baby-talked to first, though. Looking at them it’s difficult to imagine that some have had the kind of upbringing we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemy. “Most of them have had a rough start,” shares Shilpa. “It’s actually very rare that we get to deal with dogs that haven’t gone through some sort of physical violence or disease.”
Aranyani is one of the newer additions to Colombo’s growing assortment of animal welfare groups. Begun by Soharni, Shilpa and a few of their friends and colleagues last year, the group operates from the Haven Dog Hotel in Thalahena, Malabe. Haven Dog Hotel is a separate operation, but the owner has been generous enough to let them keep their dogs here, we’re told.
Aranyani is the goddess of the forests and the animals that live in it so it seems apt that they’ve named their group thus. Defining itself as an animal rescue organization, their other work includes feeding, sterilizing and re-homing their rescues, along with raising awareness and busting myths associated with dogs and cats.
A small team of volunteers handle everything at present, including follow up, admin and actually taking care of their rescues. “A lot of people think that we get a call, take a dog or pup or cat in and it’s good going after that,” notes Shilpa. “But it’s a lot of work that follows. We have to take the dogs to the vet, if they’re sick they need to be treated, we have to sterilize them and shelter them until we’ve found a home. It’s a lot of work-very rewarding, but a lot of work.” Since Aranyani is a fairly small organization at present they only shelter around 8-10 dogs at a time but you can call them up if you see a dog or cat on the road that you think might be in trouble. “We wish we could take in more but we have no facilities to keep them in,” Soharni explains. “What we can do, however, is to take them to the vet and have them vaccinated and sterilized so they are safer on the streets.” Aranyani will also step in tactfully if an animal is being ill-treated but say this is often difficult when the owners refuse to accept that their dog needs help.
“A lot of them come in with bad issues,” they indicate a small white dog with a scar on its forehead. “She was stabbed. Another was being beaten when we got her off the owner. They have issues that we’ve had to sort out over many months. Being able to shelter them here in Malabe has been a blessing, because they’re already set up to look after the animals and they’ve been kind enough to let us keep the animals here for free.”
Their plans include hosting more awareness programmes, especially for schools and communities. “There are a lot of myths and wrong facts perpetuated by people and sometimes even vets,” Shilpa says. “We want to make it clear that most these myths are exactly that, and that sterilizing your dog is not a crime and you don’t have to wait until it’s had it first litter or heat if it’s a female-and that male dogs need to be sterilized too. It’s kinder, honestly, than throwing a litter of pups onto the street because you can’t afford it.”
On the day we visited there were at least ten dogs waiting for a kind, caring home. Most of them were older and are the friendliest souls you will meet. They have some pups too, but most of these guys have already found good homes. It’s the older fellows who need you most, so do drop by if you’ve been looking for some canine company. Aranyani also adopts and re-homes cats, if you’re more of a feline person.
If you’d like to help Aranyani out-either with your time or funds please visit http://www.aranyanianimalrescue.org or their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Aranyani.SriLanka.
You can also email the group on aranyani.sl@gmail.com
| Animal welfare The primary governing legislature on animal welfare in Sri Lanka is the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance No. 13 of 1907 which has been amended several times over the last century. Many activist hope that an Animal Welfare Bill which was put forward calling for more comprehensive standards of welfare for animals and for a National Animal Welfare Authority would be enacted in the near future.Current laws in Sri Lanka make it an offence to cruelly beat, ill-treat, abuse, torture or cause unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal. If an animal is subjected to unnecessary pain or suffering, found suffering by reason of starvation, mutilation used in work or labour which could cause disease, infirmity, wounds or sores, the punishment includes fines or imprisonment or both. | |