Blessed are the poor…
Sandamali (48) and Lakshman Amarasinghe (57) are street people, living amidst dirt and grime in Rajagiriya. They have neither home nor a fixed income. But it has not stopped them caring for a myriad of abandoned cats and dogs in the area.
Despite living in a lean-to shack made of odds and ends atop a culvert alongside a by-road leading to the newly constructed overhead bridge in Rajagiriya, they give shelter 30 dogs and 20 cats.
The walls of their abode are made of cast aside planks, cardboard, and bits of plastic, while the roof is made of rusted zinc roofing sheets which offer no protection from the elements. Even a light shower of rain makes the ‘home’ uninhabitable.
What started as providing care for three stray dogs has now burgeoned into a population of fifty animals. According to Sandamali people in the vicinity leave their unwanted pups and kittens at her doorstep.
Sandamali has taken them under her wing, named them, cares for them and refers to them each by his/ her name.
The couple receive help in their venture –a lawyer has regularly sent food for the animals for the past eight years. A veterinarian from Rajagiriya provides free medical service to the animals. In addition hotels in the vicinity send them leftover food.
The Colombo Municipal Council on several occasions had demolished the couple’s ‘home’, but they return and rebuild.
The couple do not receive any institutional help. They appeal to philanthropists to help them via a small house and land to help them take the animals off the streets and rear them in safety.