Helping Those Who Can’t Help Themselves

$531: that’s the amount raised through our humble little fundraising efforts for Mysore’s first and only animal shelter: People For Animals! Thank you: Ellie Kaufman, Katja Wichland, Joe Kopicki, Peggy Peng, Elise Nussbaum, Katia Burns, Erin Reese, Margaret Levine, Tracy Cox, Linda Ruggiero, Abigail Haney, Sandy Ng, Sharon Reyes and Nicolas Legrez.

What impresses me most about these generous donors is that every single one of them contributes both time and money to multiple charities. Katja Wichland raises funds for numerous animal organizations and on behalf of individual homeless animals that need care. Nicolas Legrez works several hours a day in a Mysore orphanage. On his last day, his kids, who don’t have two rupees to rub together, gave him a present: a lovely Ganesha statue. Ellie Kaufman helps organize “Yoga Stops Traffic” events in San Francisco and participated in this year’s event here in Mysore.

The contributions made by these individuals make a difference. On Monday, Savitha, the head of People For Animals, and I are going to spend the entire amount. On our shopping list: canvas to build a shelter from the unrelenting, glaring, god-awful sun, a bathtub for grooming the animals to make them more adorable and ripe for adoption, grooming aids, flea medicines, puppy and kitten toys, blankets, towels, hay for the horses and oxygen for surgeries.

The task at hand is huge. Savitha and People For Animals face incredible obstacles. Currently, the shelter is staffed with people who are just in it for a paycheck. Other than Savitha, who draws no salary, not one of the staff, including the veterinarians, is an animal lover. This is not the U.S. Mix in the Indian work ethic, which is much more too relaxed (I’m gonna dispense with all tact: the workers here are friggin’ LAZY), and very little gets accomplished unless you stand over the workers, including the vets, and say things like:

“Please euthanize the dying buffalo who hasn’t been able to move in 6 weeks.”
“Please remove the body of the dead buffalo, the one there in the middle of the baby cows.”
“Please give the dogs, particularly Millie who is nursing about 15 newborns, water.”
“Please change the filthy, dirt brown water in the dog bowls.”
“Please strap Barney (the dog whose hindquarters are paralyzed) into his wheelchair.”
“Please pull Barney (and his wheelchair) out of the ditch he is currently stuck in.”
“Please go and retrieve the pony who just left the shelter and is now wandering down the street.”
“Please change the cats’ litter.”
“Please feed the monkey.”
“Get the baby pony, who is dying, out of the sun, you lazy, fucking morons.”

Sorry, I didn’t really say that last line out loud. And, Mom, I know I have a potty mouth. It’s not my worst quality, however.

Today we got a call from a yogi who found a cat with a litter of kittens in an open suitcase under her bed. We called People For Animals to come pick up the mom and babies, but the ambulance driver had turned off his cell phone. During business hours for which he is paid. Savitha had to go and get the cat and kittens herself in her own car. Savitha is a saint. Unfortunately she’s surrounded by schmucks.

People For Animals welcomes volunteers who’d like to come and spend some time harping on the lazy ass workers for them to do their jobs. We may be able to throw in accommodations for the right kind of help. Mysore in autumn is rivaled by no other city. It is beautiful. Autumn is the perfect time to come, practice yoga, volunteer and make a huge difference in this world.