Dear Friend,

Once again we welcome you to the Friendicoes e-newsletter…our third newsletter so far!

In this issue we would like to discuss with you an increasingly serious issue of dog breeding and "buying pedigreed pets" which is leading to large scale inbreeding of dogs and the even more serious consequence of sick puppies flooding the market. These puppies are bought by people from breeders and pet shops for amounts as big as 20-30 thousand without knowing the medical history, vaccination records or even the genetic line of the animal and in most cases without even KCI (Kennel Club of India) registration papers. For more info click here…

The RSPCA team consisting of International Aid Officer Corralie Farren along with Veterinary Officer Dr. Chris and Mr. Simon on their recent visit to India dropped by the Friendicoes SECA city shelter and the Gurgaon sanctuary where they spent a day with the animals before flying back to their country. Incidentally the Friendicoes SECA country sanctuary in Gurgaon was made possible due to a grant made by RSPCA, U.K. few years back.

We are also happy to let you know that the 7 year old German Shepherd Laila, featured in our last newsletter issue have found a loving home and a doting family. Also successfully re homed was Shaina, a golden Lab who was abandoned due to her hyper active temperament and just as we were giving up hope for a home for her a family came along and took her home.

Cheers!!!

Rising from the ashes…

Too often at Friendicoes, we witness cruelty and ignorance on the part of humans that ends up destroying an innocent animal’s life. At the end of March, as the days grew longer and hotter, a pair of beautiful black Labradors was abandoned at our city shelter.  The male while handsome and of high pedigree had a nasty temper, the female on the other hand had a swollen belly and an absolutely golden temperament.  On inspection the Friendicoes vet realized with a start that the bitch was heavily pregnant and due to deliver within the week.  Well aware of the fact that the abandonment coupled with the heat and noise of the shelter could prove harmful for her, Shadow was shifted from the shelter to the home of our vice president Geeta Seshamani.

The very next week Shadow went in to labor and gave birth to one puppy, she remained restless and uncomfortable through out the night but Dr. Prabhakar resisted inducing the birth of the next few puppies for the medicine would contaminate Shadows milk.  By morning when she was still uneasy and with out a puppy in sight the doctor finally administered the injection and Shadow delivered two still born puppies. Yet for the one healthy puppy two were born dead and two had to be removed from her uterus.  It was clear to all of us that the stress of abandonment was the cause of this disaster. Shadow’s health subsequently went in to a downward spiral, and she fell in to a deep depression. She never recovered…


Despite round the clock attention and the very best veterinary care Shadow died a few days later.  The trauma of being thrown out of her home, loosing her human family and being separated from her friend and mate Jimmy while she was in such delicate condition proved to be to much for her.  Any one who has seen an abandoned dog knows that it is heartbreak above all else that claims the most lives.
Friendicoes staff however had no time to grieve the loss of Shadow for they had the Herculean task of hand raising a newborn puppy. Everyone was determined that the puppy should live. With out mothers milk that provides anti – bodies so necessary for a baby the chances of the puppy’s survival seemed slim.  Yet, some how, by some miracle of god, almost like a Phoenix, she rose from the tragedy that surrounded her birth. And so she was named Phoenix for her spirit of survival. Slowly the dependant black fur ball grew into an active puppy with the personality of five exuberant Labradors rolled in to one.  Her antics kept the household in a constant uproar and she outwitted every single one of Geeta’s adult dogs of which there are 13. Phoenix seemed to know she had been given a second chance at life and she had decided to live it to the absolute fullest.

Two weeks ago a wonderful family who had already adopted a rescued female German shepherd from us - Yana (ref. Facebook does it for Yana), took Phoenix home.  She has now been renamed Zoya, meaning alive or life in greek. She has settled in well at her new home and has already become fast friends with Yana who is almost 6 years her senior.  Looking at the doting family and her new happy life with a best friend in the bargain, the pain of loosing Shadow and having to part with Phoenix has given way to an overwhelming joy for all of us at Friendicoes at having successfully saved another life. 
Abandoning a dog can prove fatal to the animal so please think twice before getting a puppy. More importantly if you do decide to add to your family consider adopting from a shelter and giving an abandoned dog another chance at a happy ending. Lastly, never buy a dog; breeders do not take care of their animals - often breeding the bitch till her death at the young age of 5 or 6. Even worse, puppies are often born with defects caused by over breeding and are sold at too young an age.

Be a responsible and compassionate dog lover and help us put an end to animal cruelty.

Spay/ Neuter in Almora

Friendicoes is committed to helping communities outside Delhi specially when they need to implement the Animal Birth Control Programme. Almost three years ago Friendicoes helped initiate a Spay / Neuter project in Leh, Ladakh and this time a donor member Smita Joshi asked for help in the beautiful hill town Almora in northern India where the citizens showed exemplary commitment to Animal Welfare by asking for a spay / neuter programme rather than simply poisoning their dogs or relocating them to Leopard territory. The Friendicoes SECA team of two vets and two para vets led by Dr. Trishul held a 1 week Spay/ Neuter & Vaccination camp at Almora, in Uttarakhand, a state in northern India near the Nepal border. Almora is a well known tourist destination especially in the summers when hordes of tourist head there to beat the summer heat.

Friendicoes SECA’s long term friend and donor Smita Joshi initiated this camp with help and assistance from her parents who live in Almora and the “local guardian of the animals” Kamini Kashyap, a lawyer who looks after about 35 strays in this small hill retreat. The camp was also made possible by the positive attitude and co operation of the local municipal corporation who extended their help by offering premises to hold the camp and helped spread awareness among the local people to bring in their neighborhood dogs for the required immunization and sterilization. The camp which was the first of its kind to be organized aimed at sensitizing the people and spreading the word to adopt the method of spay/ neuter & vaccination to control stray population instead of the age old technique of culling dogs by mass poisoning or relocation into Leopard territory. Only about 68 dogs were spayed / neutered but it was talked about in the local dailies and so the happy Municipality has set up a programme with Friendicoes and every alternate month the Friendicoes vets and para vets will go there to do hopefully ever increasing numbers of spay/neuters and to train local vets till finally Almora has its own independent ABC programme.

Geeta Seshamani of Friendicoes said “The success of the camp is seen as the first victory over changing people’s mind sets and creating a more tolerant and animal friendly atmosphere among the locals, many of whom actually like to keep them as pets to guard their houses and fields.”

Dr. Trishul who led the team said “We got a very good response from the people who were keen to understand the whole concept of the camp and do the best by their animals. We managed to sterilize and vaccinate about 68 dogs apart from de worming and vaccinating a few puppies. We hope to go back in the future and hold more camps in surrounding areas and this time we hope to get the municipality to pick up dogs more methodically”.
Our warmest thanks to the parents of Smita, Kamini Kashyap and all those who helped to reach out to the community, take care of our staff and make us feel so much at home.

A St. Bernard called Jo Jo!!

A bit of mischief, a bit of love and a bit of growl…that exactly defines Jo Jo, a female St.Bernard, who was abandoned with Friendicoes because she was paralyzed. A huge head, a thick coat covered in ticks, bunches of them, and dragging herself along the floor to her water bowl JoJo might be forgiven for hating mankind.  But 3 months later Jo Jo has a different story to tell…

When Jo Jo was left with Friendicoes, paralyzed and malnourished, suffering from tick fever we did not know what to do with her.  A St. Bernard who cannot walk is as good as dead because she will never get adopted and with her heavy coat she needed an airconditioned apartment not our shelter, specially in the heart of summer.  But it didn’t look like Jo Jo wanted to give up living. With bright eyes she began observing what we were about to do; her coat was trimmed off, a bath was given and a grooming session which she thoroughly enjoyed. Several bloodtests later we learnt she was suffering from acute tick fever that was found to be the cause of her paralysis. A week of vigorous care and treatment passed and Jo Jo showed improvement and after about 12 days she even managed to stand up on her legs. She put on weight and shed her “starved mongrel-ly” look and started looking like what she was actually meant to be - a St. Bernard, however mixed the bloodline. A couple of months down the line her coat acquired a shine and muscles rippled when she went for a walk…she even started playing with some of the staff, carrying her leash in her mouth as she walked in a nearby park. Her improved looks now brought in adoption enquiries but Jo Jo was in no mood to go any where. She snapped at the first family who came to adopt her and was not friendly to the second family either. Although she played with some of the staff she did not like many others and she definitely did not like outsiders. Her future now started worrying us all…

Then Asha Adhlaka, a very old friend & volunteer of Friendicoes who knew Jo Jo from her regular visits to the shelter offered to give Jo Jo a home with her married daughter who already had a lot many other dogs. So Jo Jo went to her new home and her new family. She has accepted all the other dogs but only some members of the family…she still does not like the grandson of Asha and the family driver. But we hope that with time Jo Jo will get over her initial antagonism and come to love her whole family.

Adopt a dog from a shelter TODAY!

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