Adopters often abandon sick, adult pets: NGOs

In one such bizarre incident on Sunday, the Blue Cross of India (BCI) came across three gunny bags being dumped outside their gate. The sacks — which were secured tightly — had puppies in it. All of them were gasping for breath.

“Dumping animals either outside an organisation or on the streets is a form of cruelty,” said Dawn Williams, general manager, Blue Cross of India.

“On Sunday, three tightly-tied sacks were found on the driveway outside our campus. They were brought to the shelter and untied and we found live puppies in it. They were almost suffocated and were panting heavily. A few volunteers quickly took them out, placed them in a separate enclosure and gave them water to drink,” he added.

Lucky for the puppies, a passer-by had noticed that noticed that something was wriggling inside the sack and he caught hold of the man who had left the bags and was walking away.

When the person was questioned, he said that he would rather dump the puppies outside Blue Cross than abandon them on the street. The puppies looked like they were from different families as they were all in different sizes and ages. “While his intention of ensuring the pups’ safety was right, leaving them to suffocate outside in the heat was cruel,” said Dawn.

Interestingly, several adopters tend to give up on the animals if they fall ill or the owners realise that they can’t take care of them anymore. They are then dumped in places from where they cannot find their way back.

“If the pet is unwell, it is the adopter’s responsibility to take care of it. Many of the pets are lucky because we get regular updates, and we see them grow up healthy and happy. But we have also come across adopters who lose interest after the puppy or kitten grows up,” said Sai Vignesh, founder of Almighty Animal Care Trust.