Good samaritans: DU students volunteer for dog shelters
In the Patel Chest area of Delhi University’s (DU) North Campus, a group of youngsters can be found spending time at roadside tea stalls. Observe carefully to realise that they don’t just loiter but also attend to stray dogs, at shelters set up by Shivam Dewan and group.
The tale of these good samaritans dates back to last October, when a 24-year-old engineer, Dewan, helped a white Indie stray. “I live in Paschim Vihar and was assisting a company in Patel Chest to set-up of a café. There I befriended a dog, suffering from malnutrition. I named her Molly. One day, I got a call from a stall owner, asking for help to save Molly,” says Dewan. He took the ailing dog to Friendicoes and found that it had fractured its pelvic bone. Molly’s treatment took two months and made Dewan so attached to the cause that he sought help of neighbouring college students to create a collective for Molly and other’s like her.
Today, with the help of seven other DU students, they have set up two dog shelters. Initially they were made of cardboard cartons but later they made shelters out of brick and mortar.
“When we saw Molly, we volunteered to help, and that spiralled into a group. At present, we are taking care of three adult dogs and eight pups in shifts,” says Gayatri Misra from Miranda House.
However, their journey hasn’t been hurdle-free. “One of the dog shelters was broken by someone. Not all shopkeepers were happy with our initiative. We are looking for safe environs to built more shelters in the coming months, with the financial help we have sought via crowdfunding. To maintain one shelter for six months, the operational cost is about `2500, which includes price of dog’s food, their visits to doctor for vaccination etc. And, if a dog meets with an accident, the cost goes higher,” adds Dewan.
Final year law student, Heena Shehrawat, informs, “We are planning to hold a meeting on May 30, to discuss how to create safe shelters. And since some of us are completing our courses this year, we have the task to find new volunteers too.”