It all started when Friendicoes went to the islands beyond the tip of India to provide relief to man and animal both, during the Tsunami of 2004. While others left at the end of a month or two Friendicoes continued feeding the stray animals, both the cattle and the dogs and cats left without owners. Re-homing as many as possible as life gradually normalized in the islands and providing free veterinary care to those who were victims of the Tsunami, Friendicoes found itself established at Port Blair and deeply involved in animal welfare through the loyal cooperation of Dr Geeta Gladson and Dr Saravana.
The need of the day was a spay/neuter program for the street dogs who were multiplying by leaps and bounds. In the absence of any other animal welfare group Friendicoes started and now runs a Spay / Neuter program in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, going by boat to neighbouring islands and doing camps of 150 dogs on each trip in collaboration with local islanders and the Animal Husbandry Department. Initially it was a solitary effort but it soon received some support from the local Animal Husbandry department as well as the Municipality. The program is mainly based in the capital Port Blair where the Friendicoes team performs almost 150 surgeries every month. This project is in dire need of an ambulance, a shelter and funding.
