Dear Editor,
I’d like to share a recent experience with your readers. My mother’s next door neighbours’ dog was badly injured, and they had no transportation to get it to a vet (lately taxi services are now refusing the transport of dogs/pets). I was out of the country at the time or this would have been done immediately, but for four days my mother tried to find someone who could do so, as the neighbours could not afford a vet’s house call. Eventually my mother acquired animal volunteer Syeada Manbodh’s phone number and the dog was taken to the shelter. My mother was later to describe to me how the poor animal lay groaning in pain for these four days, before he was taken to the Animal Shelter and put to sleep, since his injuries were mortal.

She did say that she had called the Animal Shelter among other places to see if they would come, but at that moment while they had a vehicle, they had no driver. I am sure that even when they do have a driver, they have a great deal of such work to handle, and could well use some help, and this is my first purpose for writing – to suggest that the Animal Shelter compile a list of willing volunteers who could be called on when an animal is in dire need of help. Very likely there is more than one person out there who would be willing to help, and in my opinion it is worth a try, especially for times when the Shelter’s pick-up service is temporarily disrupted. Those of us out there who care for animals would hate to encounter such a scenario as I just described, but the reality is, it happens. A volunteer pool should surely alleviate that, as the Shelter cannot be everywhere it is needed at once.

Secondly, I would like to ask all readers to take an active part by looking around you to assist in helping endangered or injured animals by informing the shelter. And lastly, please do not be guilty of the cruel, wicked act of straying animals; and if you can adopt a homeless one, please do so. I know we have many societal ills concerning humans that are considered more serious, but we can still try to tackle more than one thing at a time.

Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)