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Baby's Days Out
| Baby, resident adolescent bull at the CUPA shelter, is at the tender age
of two and a half years. Today, his good looks and endearing
behaviour is a far cry from the little, helpless 5-day old calf that was
bought from the butcher's shop, wrapped in a cloth. Separated from his
mother, he was a new-born baby, with large, liquid brown eyes. The
shelter staff lost their hearts to his melting looks and pathetic
state. It took one month and many anxious moments to put him back on his
little hooves ! He had to be bottle fed and there were many days when no
amount of coaxing would make him feed. |
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Baby is just a miniscule among the lucky few male calves that escaped
the butcher's knife. Every month, hundreds of such tender, new born
calves are sold for slaughter as veal.
Today Baby is the pride of the shelter. If you are lucky, you can
catch him swinging open the glass entrance door of the shelter, and
walking past amazed visitors, on his way back from grazing outdoors.
Extremely naughty and playful, Baby seems to forget that he is no longer
one ! |
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Dusty's Story
Dusty came into our lives on the 21 st October 2005, at precisely 11:00
PM. We received a call from Amaravathi, a CUPA volunteer, that about
20-30 men were harassing and beating a horse near Ulsoor, a locality few
miles away from the shelter. The ambulance was rapidly dispatched along
with a few staff members to the spot.
On seeing the CUPA staff and ambulance, Dusty's tormentors fled the
scene. The CUPA staff gently loaded Dusty into the ambulance and brought
him to the shelter.
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Dusty's is a sad story with a happy ending. He is a 3 year old
horse, abandoned by his owner as he was unable to pull the jutka or the
tonga cart. His foreleg was badly damaged. With constant ill-treatment,
beating and starvation, Dusty also lost the use of one eye. He would
wander the streets of Ulsoor, looking for scraps to eat.
On that ill fated night, a group of 20-30 men pounced on him, tied a
rope around his neck and clambered on his back in twos. As they whipped
him to make him trot and canter, he started to run around in circles,
bewildered and unable to take the weight of the load on his back.
This happened for almost an hour till help came from Amaravathi and
CUPA. The rest is history; today Dusty is a much loved and a duly
respected figure (amongst the canine and feline inmates) of the shelter. |
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Marcus
| One evening,
a family rushed into CUPA hospital with
a black labrador for treatment. The dog
named Marcus had a skin infection. The duty
doctor treated the animal and advised medicated
baths. The family listened, walked out with
Marcus, got into their car, drove a short
distance..........and threw Marcus out of
the car! Poor Marcus sat dazed on the pavement
not knowing what had happened to him.The
only place that was immediately familiar
to him was the CUPA hospital and he trotted
back. The Staff were shocked to see him
walking in alone and realised that he had
been abandoned. |
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| They took him under
their wing and showered him with affection.
Soon enough, his skin healed and he grew
a glossy coat. Marcus’ life took another
turning point when Christopher Peck from
Hosur adopted him. Named Buddy now, he regularly
visits CUPA for check-ups and to meet us
all. |
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Veda
It was a grim day for CUPA when we heard that
the State of Karnataka had issued an order on
09-12-2004 directing the transfer of baby elephant
Veda from Bannerghatta Biological Park to Yerevan
Zoo in Armenia in Eurasia, as a gift to the
President of Armenia.
Armenia, with its devastatingly cold winters
is a totally unsuitable destination for an elephant.
Being an animal from warmer Southern climes
and also on the grounds that the transfer amounted
to cruelty as the elephant would be separated
from her mother and family herd and removed
from the natural forest environment of Bannerghatta
Biological Park, CUPA opposed the transfer on
the grounds of extreme physical and psychological
abuse that Veda would be subjected to.
A writ petition was filed in W.P. No. 7046 /
2005 before the Hon’ble High Court of
Karnataka against the transfer.The Hon’ble
High Court dismissed the petition on 04-03-2005.
While CUPA prepared itself to move the Supreme
Court in appeal against the Karnataka High Court
Order – the campaign was intensified and
CUPA along with Born Free Foundation U.K. made
fresh representations to the Hon’ble Prime
Minister of India to cancel the gift to Armenia.
CUPA began its campaign against the transfer
on the grounds that the sub-zero climatic conditions
of Armenia was totally unsuitable for an elephant.
Elephant experts were asked to write their opinions
on the effects of such a transfer and the effects
that this kind of captivity would have on Veda.
BornFree produced invaluable documents on the
status and poor conditions of the Yerevan Zoo.
A parallel campaign was launched in London,
with the Indian and Armenian High Commission
being inundated by appeals and letters. CUPA
appealed to the US organisation, Best Friends
to launch a signature campaign to keep Veda
at home.
Finally the long awaited news slipped in from
Delhi - Elephant Veda would not go to Armenia!
The National Wildlife Board under the Chairpersonship
of the Hon’ble Prime Minister banned the
State gifts of animals from Heads of State to
other Heads of State and to foreign zoos on
17th March 2005. CUPA’s campaign to save
the baby elephant was a double victory as we
collectively managed not only to save Veda but
also protect future elephants from being gifted
away to unsuitable and hostile environments.
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ITTAPPA
- A Story of his Fantastic Journey!
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Ittappa, along with 2 of his
canine companions, belonged to a gang of
sandalwood smugglers in Kerala,South India.
His masters were caught by the police and
taken into custody. Ittappa and his 2 friends
were taken as 'articles' for the case against
the smugglers and were forgotten in a dark,
dank, damp corner of a Government Veterinary
Hospital at Kasargod, Kerala for 3 long
years. His companions succumbed to the misery
but Ittappa struggled on and survived. CUPA,
reading about his plight in a local paper,
sent our Animal Welfare Inspector to Kasargod
to investigate. |
| After many long meetings
with district officials and order from the
local magistrate's court, CUPA was given
the responsibility of having life-long custody
of Ittappa. He is today a contented member
of the CUPA shelter where the priveleged
permanent canine residents stay! |
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HERO..Heroic
rescue and recovery
Hero, as we came to name
him, was owned by Mr.Balachandra. On Christmas
Day.25th Dec' 2002, imagine the horror of the
residents of Whitefield, a suburb of Bangalore
City! Mr Balachandra tied the dog to his Matador
Van and drove the vehicle a good 5km dragging
the screaming dog behind him.The owner justified
his action saying the dog was a biter. Mr.Roop
Singh, a local resident, saw the ghastly scene
and chased the van and managed to loosen the
rope. The dog was left for dead until further
investigation by Mr.Roop Singh revealed that
his heart was still beating. He bundled the
dog into a taxi and filed a First Informaton
Report at the nearest Police station. The first
sight of the completely bloody and wounded animal
at CUPA, still leave some staff members shuddering
in horror, at the memory! The able veterinarians
of CUPA immediatly provided medical aid and
emergency services. Hero was critical for 3
days fighting between life and death and was
in the Intensive Care Unit.
Two months later, Hero made a good recovery
and contrary to his owner's statement, he is
one of the friendliest dogs at the shelter.
Once he is stroked and petted, he will continue
to rub his head and body against the person,
craving for affection. Rather overweight, he
is adored by the CUPA staff.
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