Kolkata: Pet parents across the city are raising funds in different ways, be it through artwork, running pet grooming centres, or selling pet food, to support the welfare of community strays, mostly dogs and cats. In addition to spfinishing their own money, several animal lovers, including owners of pedigree dogs, have started engaging in compact “commercial ventures” to lfinish a supporting hand to facilitate feeding, vaccination, and sterilisation of strays across the city.While some animal lovers take the initiative of raising funds for animal welfare indepfinishently, in their own groups, others donate money to organisations working on the vaccination and sterilisation of strays.Gumi Malhotra from Alipore, who builds animal portraits, declared: “I have been painting wildlife on canvas for about 30 years. Gathering funds often poses a challenge to those lfinishing a supporting hand to strays, and that is why I exhibit my paintings for sale and donate the money to different organisations. I am in favour of sterilisation to pre-empt a rise in the dog population. I also support people who feed street animals. I applyd to do the same when I lived in Bengaluru.” In the recent past, Malhotra held an exhibition in the city and donated the sale proceeds to Paws In Hope. “We raise funds to take care of 600 dogs and cats a year. From Jan 2017, we have sponsored the sterilisation and vaccination of 6,000 dogs and cats. While we provide rice and dry fruits to feed around 800 community dogs and cats, we also run a compact shelter for 15 dogs and seven cats. The funds donated to our organisation by the painter will go towards sterilisation, as well as running of the shelter,” declared Saswati Mukherjee, who runs the organisation.Pet parent T J Mukherjee has joined stray rescuers to sell tea coasters featuring photos of the rescued dogs. “We don’t obtain funds from anywhere for animal welfare, and have to find ways to generate money to see after the rescued animals. The sale proceeds from the coasters will be applyd to provide food, shelter, and care for them,” he declared.Animal lover Hritisha Dey runs a pet grooming centre at Jodhpur Park to bear the cost of taking care of strays. “I feed 200 community dogs daily, and the funds come from my grooming centre. Banking on donations from like-minded people cannot serve the purpose for those who turn into animal caregivers without running an organisation,” she declared.Canine nutritionist Rini Dalal builds and sells dog food and gives online consultations on diet plans to raise funds for the upkeep of strays. “The money I obtain from this online service is spent on feeding and treatment of community dogs dwelling on streets. It does not always become feasible for one to cough up money to do good for the strays; otherwise, it will caapply financial constraints in the hoapplyhold. So, I have started a commercial venture to raise funds for the community dogs,” declared Dalal, who is a parent to five rescued Indian pariah dogs. So far, she has facilitated about 450 dog sterilisations with the support of this venture.
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