Last week’s article may have given the impression that our transformation into ‘animal crusaders’ was quite natural. On the contrary, actually. Moving out of the cushioning of our comfortable lives into the realms of reality was the result of a lot of soul searching.

Nurturing your domestic pet in a controlled environment is in complete contrast to the fending of stray animals in a hostile environment. Both of us (me and sister Chandana) knew we were on the periphery of things by merely feeding stray dogs or nursing their wounds occasionally. We had to go the whole hog...

I joined the first aid group with Welfare for Stray Dogs (WSD). Sunday mornings were spent attending to accident cases/wounded dogs and vaccination drives. Chand, on her part, befriended the slum children, going door to door compiling a list of dogs that needed to be sterilised.

In the first round of sterilisation, we took three dogs (Peeli, Kaali, Dolly) to WSD. Ten days later they were back, sterilised, vaccinated, dewormed.

Today, four years down the line, we have 75 sterilised dogs in our area, almost every local shop or petrol pump has adopted a dog and the compassion for the canines has extended to the feline family as well.

So, you can either read this piece and forget about it OR you can do your bit for the Raasta Angels. Your call!

Tip of the week: In Calcutta, you can report wounded/abandoned animals to the People for Animals, which has a 24-hour ambulance stationed at the Ashari hospital (24239100).