By John B Monteiro

Mangaluru, Oct 3: Clifford D’Souza (80 years) passed away on October 1, 2021 and as per his wish his body has been donated to Yenepoya Medical College. He had started his shipping business in 1971 titled Export Trade-link Agencies. But, ever since he started his Animal Welfare Trust, Prem Chaaya, he lived exclusively for animals on a one-acre campus at Bajpe, close to the old airport terminal. I had written about Clifford and his Prem Chaaya but I will republish an earlier article written about him and his Prem Chaaya.

5-Star Shelter for Dogs Set to Fade-out

According to a report from London, a 47-year-old woman in UK has married her pet dog because the canine had all the qualities she needed in a life partner. Apparently dismayed by men, Amanda Rodgers, from south London, married her loyal pet terrier called Sheba. The wedding ceremony took place in front of 200 people.

“Sheba has been my life for years, making me laugh and comfort me when I was feeling low”, Rodgers said. “I couldn’t think anything more I’d need from a life partner.” Rodgers had married 20 years ago but the relationship had ended in months. “I got down on one knee and proposed. I could tell by her tail wagging that she said ‘yes’ “, Rodgers said, adding that she wanted things to be right this time.

Occasionally news reports surface to the effect people leave inheritance running into millions of dollars for their pet dogs or cats and also leave endowments making provision for care-takers for their pets after their own demise and until the pets die.

But, there are some who pamper dogs not as pets but out of compassion for dumb animals. One outstanding such instance, but unfortunately set for fade-out came from Bajpe, in the shadow of the old airport. But, we must start at the beginning.

‘Every dog has his day’ is an old saying. Yet, collectively, scanning the horizon, their days seem set to decline. In the latest instance, a dog-lover, 50-year old Baneswar Shau, was beaten to death in a Howrah locality allegedly by neighbours who couldn’t stand his passion for strays. On the other hand, a day later, a two-month-old baby was mauled to death by a stray dog in central Delhi after the canine entered the house and bit her all over the body – when the mother had gone out to buy vegetables. In the backdrop of children being mauled to death by strays in Indian cities and the widespread fear of rabies from dog-bites, and the resulting baying by urban citizens for killing stray canines, now every dog could well have his day with dog catchers who put them to sleep.

In contrast, in the one-acre campus of Prem Chaaya at Bajpe, scores of dogs had their day every day. Prem Chaaya became operational in 2005. It had emerged as a leading animal shelter on the western coast of India, offering high-end service for surrendered pet dogs, acting as adoption agency, clinic for sick animals and hospice for old dogs to die with dignity.

Prem Chaaya’s roots go further back to fourteen years (early 2000s) and was triggered off by an accident in which the daughter of Clifford D’Souza, founder-managing trustee of Prem Chaaya, was involved. One rainy day, in 2000, at dusk, a puppy dog came under the wheel of the car driven by Clifford’s daughter in Mangalore city. She brought the injured dog home. Operated on and named Chippie, this female became part of the family since then. From then on there was no looking back. While the family members and local trustees are in the thick of providing physical and emotional inputs, the outside trustees help to raise finance.

The shifting of the operations from the city to Bajpe meant a dramatic change of scene for the animals. There was (is) a vet who visited the campus and who also attends at a clinic for animals in Mangalore city. Besides the capital cost of over Rs.70 lakhs (a king’s ransom then) for infrastructure at Prem Chaaya campus, the budget for food, medicines, operations, transport and animal handlers at Bajpe worked out to over Rs.100,000 per month. At peak there were about 80 dogs of various ages, sizes and breeds.

Prem Chaaya has handled hundreds of dogs, cats and other animals as also birds, brought injured or rescued from illegal traders. The surrendered pets, either waiting for adoption or final exit, are kept in star accommodation and comfort. For resident animals, it is like a corporate hospital or star hotel, compared to the crowded government hospital or highway inn.

Now, in line with the trend of dogs being set on the declining curve, a change in the working of Prem Chaaya has set in. Clifford advertised in newspapers requesting people not to bring dogs anymore as the shelter is set for closure. I have been tracking the progress of Prem Chaaya and projecting it in the media. Several years ago I had asked Clifford how long he was going to continue living with the dogs on the campus. He said: “I am 63 years now and look forward to living and dying with the dogs”. Another time, he said: “It is like riding a tiger; you can’t dismount”. He would say that it is not enough to provide 5-star infrastructure; but he has to offer his compassion, love and emotions to his dumb wards.

But, practical problems have forced Clifford to take a heart-rending decision. He depended on local labour to look after the creature needs of his wards. They became very expensive and scarce. Then he switched to migrant workers from eastern and north eastern states. Even this was not working out. The number of dogs has come down from eighty during the peak to 26 now – and declining. Clifford hopes to see that last of his dumb wards go to eternal sleep before he withdraws from the scene.

It is sad that Prem Chaaya is set to close. But, all is not lost. There are other working models of looking after strays with compassionate individual godfathers and godmothers doing their bit for the dumb animals. One such godfather to stray canines, who declined to be named, and called “Jack” here, has been sheltering a dozen dogs in his ancestral house/compound for ten years. These dogs have run of the house. He believes that once you interact with the strays, it is very difficult to let go. They unknowingly pay you back so that some of the potential troubles to the benefactor are averted. His first contacts with strays were when they were injured or sick. “You spend ten minutes with them and you are hooked for life”.

Jack says that every lane or mohalla has strays and locals should befriend them for mutual benefit. Referring to dog-phobia, Jack says: “Dogs attack out of fear and become aggressive in self-defence. They will become docile if properly approached. Not a single dog has bitten me ever. I have injected several dogs and they have not protested. I believe in Karma – what goes out comes around. Sometimes I have to put them down. There is a huge sense of pain. It drains me.”

Jack says that dogs have an amazing sense of love and affection and they understand things much beyond what we give them credit for. He says that strays are highly maintenance-free and one should not consider looks and breeds. Jack decries as criminal the fashion of going in for high breeds and abandoning them when they turn old or sick. They go for high breeds to show off and competing with the Kapoors. He says that many high reeds are not meant for Indian conditions. Reverting to his anonymity, Jack says that “people think it is my bounden duty to look after dogs and phone me up. Everybody has a duty to look after strays in their surroundings, lanes and mohallas.”

Jack says that tonnes of left-over food from hotels and homes is dumped in garbage bins and ends up in dump-yards. There should be ways of utilising such left-overs for neighbouring dogs and cats at fixed points. We had a tradition of providing drinking water at street corners for bovines roaming the streets. The idea can be revived and adopted for stray dogs and cats. Who will bell the cat?