An all-species animal shelter in Northeastern Pennsylvania offers refuge, comfort, care and love to more than 100 abandoned, neglected and abused animals, thanks to the tireless work of one woman: Indra Lahiri.
Indra Lahiri looks like her image should be gracing the cover of magazines. She looks as if the hardest thing she would have to do in a day is show up at a Power Yoga class or maybe wash her own car. She holds a Ph.D., and therefore, could be enjoying a relatively cushy job teaching in a nice ivy-covered university building. But that’s not her path. Indra has chosen to save the lives of animals that would otherwise be slaughtered, euthanized or simply forgotten. Indra Lahiri is the founder of Indraloka Animal Sanctuary in Mehoopany, Pennsylvania.
Running an animal sanctuary that is home to 63 cats, 15 chickens, 11 pigs, 8 horses, 3 dogs, 3 goats, 3 cows, 1 peacock, 5 turkeys, 2 ducks and 5 sheep is not a glamorous job. It involves a lot of shoveling shit. So, understandably, Indra is often asked why she does it:
“Because each time I connect with a hurt chicken, a once-helpless lamb, a rescued veal calf, an elderly horse that was dumped after years of service to humans, and all of the rest of them, I experience God. I learn about the true nature of beauty, and I become a better person. Because I can’t help it. Taking home creatures in need and showering them with love is like breathing for me. It just happens, and it keeps ME alive. If I placed all the animals of Indraloka in new homes today, I’d have the place filled up again by tomorrow. This is my joyous, maddening compulsion. This is my blessing and my calling. This is my religion. This is my bliss.”
Johnny Braz, who happens to be my cousin and also, more significantly, a filmmaker, recently released his documentary about the sanctuary: “Peace, Love & Animals.”
Indraloka, with the help of adolescent psychology professionals, plans to expand into child welfare by offering abused and traumatized children the opportunity to work with the animals in a therapeutic environment.
For more information, please click here to read Indra’s blog or visit Indraloka’s web site.
