Date:02/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/02/stories/2006090221430500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Home for puppies opened

P. Oppili

New pens created at a cost of Rs. 2.78 lakh on Blue Cross premises

NO LONGER HOMELESS: Members of Inner Wheel District 323 releasing abandoned puppies into the new pens at the Blue Cross shelter on Friday. — Photo: S.Thanthoni.

CHENNAI : A new home for the homeless puppies was unveiled at the Blue Cross shelter on its Velachery premises on Friday.

The new pens, created at a cost of Rs. 2.78 lakh, will accommodate about 60 puppies, according to S. Chinny Krishna, Chairman, Blue Cross.

While the Inner Wheel District 323 donated Rs. 1.28 lakhs, the Blue Cross contributed the remaining amount, he said.

Dr. Chinny Krishna said that on an average, the animal welfare organisation rescued or received 100 puppies a month.

Of late, it was forced to deal with a lot of puppies abandoned on the roadsides or handed over personally to the Blue Cross shelter in Velachery, he said.

On the rise

The number of abandoned puppies in the city had increased considerably, Dr. Chinny Krishna said, adding that the increase was mainly due to pet owners who failed to spay their pets.

This resulted in the birth of puppies, which were then quietly abandoned on the roadside or handed over to animal welfare organisations.

Puppies come to the Blue Cross shelter when they were four-week-old, where they needed to be housed separately.

Infection

The infection from the animals already housed in the shelter would spread to the puppies, which would prove fatal at times, he said. In order to avoid this pens had been constructed and all rescued puppies would be housed in them. Each pen would accommodate about three puppies.

The new pens would also help the Blue Cross to give more puppies for adoption, Dr. Chinny Krishna said. Without any infection or any disease, the puppies could grow healthily and those who come for adoption would surely take more puppies from the Blue Cross shelter, he explained.

Members of the Inner Wheel District 323 said they raised funds last year for constructing a shelter for homeless puppies on the Blue Cross premises.

Separate pens have been constructed for this purpose with the guidance of experienced veterinarians, they said.