Pawsome Pets: Volunteers build doghouse to protect mother, puppies in Bessi

Sathishwaran, who runs a fitness centre in Royapettah, and his friends were passing by the beach one morning when they noticed that many dogs and puppies were getting drenched in the rain, because of which the idea to create a doghouse to provide shelter for them struck.

When we got in touch with Sathishwaran, this is what he had to say. “A few weeks ago, when we were passing through Bessi (I usually love playing with the dogs there), we noticed that the dogs were getting wet in the rain. The best way to ensure their safety was to build a doghouse for them so my friends and I got down to business. 

We didn’t want to buy materials to make them so we decided to recycle scraps that are harmful to the environment like vinyl banners, spare pipes and wooden boards,” explains the youngster, who is the founder of a forum called Anbe Sivam to facilitate animal rescues.

The group drew inspiration from a few designs to create the shell of the doghouse. “We then fitted it with an automatic food feeder and a water feeder based on the bubble top concept,” he shares.

It’s been five days so far and the team is thrilled that the doghouse’s residents — a mother and her two puppies — are safe and sound. He says, “We were really worried if vandals would disturb it once we placed it on the beach or if the city corporation would object. 

However, so far, it’s been left undisturbed. Like we were able to provide shelter, food and water for the dogs during the rain, we’d like to create more such shelters and hold awareness programs along the same lines for people,” he concludes. You can reach out to Sathishwaran via his Instagram handle @trying_to_be_humann to volunteer for this cause.