As Sanjay Mohapatra steps into the premises of House of Stray Animals (HSA), the animal dispensary founded by him for treating and sheltering street animals, a palpable excitement is seen among its inhabitants. “Hey sweet babies,” calls out Mohapatra lovingly to his ‘children’ as they wag their tails and look at him with affection.
The dog’s daddy, as he’s popularly known among animal lovers, Mohapatra deserves every bit of this reciprocal love. Truly like a father, his affection never runs out for the care-starved animals. His dispensary located at Sector 54, Noida remains open 24/7 like emergency of a city hospital.
Mohapatra rushes to rescue an animal in need as soon as he gets an SOS from anyone or anytime. Even half asleep in a cold winter night he responds to the call and gets into action.
God has his own ways to make things happen. In Mohapatra’s case, he realized his calling during a holiday in Nainital. He was shaken to the core upon seeing a severely injured puppy that had fallen off the hill (as per the locals) and was wailing for the past two days. Mohapatra picked up the puppy (female) that was in excruciating pain and took her to a hospital in Haldwani. When he got her X-Ray done, he discovered she had broken her two legs. Mohapatra took care of her like his own child, and then brought her to Delhi. The incident triggered the idea to set up HSA for the voiceless. So what happened to that puppy? She is Mohapatra’s much loved pet Shiva and he raises her like a daughter. Even the logo of HSA bears her picture, in a way telling the story of how the charitable organization began.
Almost 14 years in operations, HSA provides a gamut of facilities for strays that includes their vaccination, vasectomy, adoption and even burial of the unclaimed dead animals.
The non-profit charitable organization’s services are free for stray animals. While nominal fee is charged from pet owners for the services, the funds so collected go to treat and care for the abandoned.
A day at HSA
The dispensary attends as many as 100 sick or abandoned animals every day. With a single ambulance the HSA manages to bring many animals to the centre. Even on April 18 when the city observed lockdown to contain Covid, the team HSA comprising of vets and para veterinary staff took care of dozens of animals.
Mohapatra said 45 ‘babies’ were admitted to the facility last Sunday as he looked satisfactorily at one of the stray dogs that seemed recuperating after an accident. It still remained well-bandaged.
At another spot right outside the dispensary a frail dog lied on a thela with glucose being administered to it. Many of the dogs were seen having their meal–some threw tantrums, while others chewed on, appreciating the food.
Thanks to the team of experienced and caring vets, almost negligible charges, and Mohapatra’s passion for animals, HSA’s welfare work for animals has been widely recognized in and around the area.
Not just a regular dispensary
The animal dispensary goes way beyond the rescue and treatment. Thousands of dogs (nearly 7,000-10,000) were fed out of the canteen service run by HSA during the lockdown last year. Almost 200-250 dog lovers and volunteers joined Mohapatra in his mission of feeding these lovelies across Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida West and Noida.
Not just dogs and cats but cows, squirrels, donkeys, birds are all welcomed with open heart in the HSA dispensary.
HSA receives calls from across the country to save animals and its team gets in touch with local volunteers who arrange for the treatment. It also ties up with local government bodies, RWAs, housing societies and student groups to raise awareness for animal welfare. They also regularly hold camps for animal birth control, vaccination and adoption.
“Each life plays an important role in balancing the eco-system. It is important to protect them from ravages of nature and cruelty inflicted by humans,” says Mohapatra.
“We want to open 50 such dispensaries all over the country. We get almost 60 calls every day, but often due to fewer resources, we are not able to reach them all. There are volunteers who help us with all kinds of support but we expect more people to join this mission,” says the founder of HSA.
A penchant for Desi dogs
Mohapatra who also runs an adoption centre for dogs along with the dispensary appeals to people to adopt desi dogs instead of other breeds in order to check their population and save thousands of lives.
“Street dogs are lovable, caring, have great immunity and are low maintenance. They are not fussy about food while for many breeds one has to spend a lot of money on food and care,” he shares from his long experience.
Stop animal cruelty, urges Mohapatra
Every day, he comes across cases where people do not think twice before inflicting cruelty on the innocent animals. There was a dog that was violently attacked with knives and was left to die. It was rescued by HSA and is now recuperating. Deeply disturbed by such cases, Mohapatra makes a teary eyed appeal to care for these voiceless creatures and bring the injured or needy animals to the dispensary.
“HSA aim to make an animal-friendly society. We often experience shortage of funds but that doesn’t stop us from serving these voiceless, lovely creatures. God has been kind enough to give us resources to take care of them. And I am very hopeful that more and more animal lovers will be associated with our dispensary to help us in providing food, shelter, medical facilities and much more, “concludes Mr Mohapatra.
In a world where people are increasingly becoming insensitive to others, people like Mohapatra make the world beautiful not only for fellow human beings but also for animals.
To enable Mr Sanjay Mohapatra to get more resources for stray animals or for consultation of your pets, get in touch with him at 9818048398. Donations could be sent through bank transfer at the below-mentioned details:
House of Stray Animals
Account number 50070058820
IFSC code: IDIB000A667
Indian Bank
Or
Paytm at 8368290807