Established in 1996, In Defense of Animals, India is dedicated towards protecting the rights of animals, reports Alekh Angre

It was lack of awareness about cruelty to animals that drew Sudnya Patkar to take to caring for animals. “As a child, I always wondered where stray dogs are taken after being caught and loaded into municipal vans. I was shocked to discover that they were electrocuted, to control the population of stray dogs. This motivated me to work for animal welfare,” she said. Sudnya, who is trained to be a secretary, began to volunteer with an animal welfare association and decided that animal care was her calling.

After volunteering for a few years, in October 1996, she set up In Defense of Animals, India (IDA-I) as a non-profit, grassroots animal protection organisation dedicated to defending the rights of all non-human living creatures. IDA-I started operating out of two garages in a Mumbai suburb with a project for neutering street dogs. After three years in small make-shift camps, the organisation was granted space in December 1999 (at Deonar, Mumbai) by the municipal corporation through the intervention of the Bombay High Court. Over time, it has grown enormously and now receives steady funding from various government sources as well as its US-based counterpart.

IDA-I has now three centres where animals are provided shelter and medical treatment. Apart from the staff—administration, shelter manager, veterinarians and dog-catchers—other managers and volunteers work on honorary basis. The shelter in Deonar takes care of around 650 dogs of which 150 are resident dogs; the rest are strays brought in for sterilisation or medical help. Sick dogs, those with skin problems or injured in accidents, etc, are given care by providing proper food and medical treatment. There are separate wards for mother and puppies, maggot-infested animals, post-surgical care and for blind animals.
 
A full-time kitchen provides timely and healthy food to animals twice a day. Their feed includes milk, dal, rice, chicken-legs and specialised dog food received from donors.

IDA-I employs qualified veterinarians and para-vets; dog-catchers are always available in case of emergency. IDA-I also provides ambulances with global positioning system (GPS), to make tracking easier. It has seven ambulances including night-service ones and mobile clinics for eastern and western suburbs of Mumbai. The organisation runs a helpline through which it receives complaints and accordingly sends its ambulance for rescuing the animals. It has also been approached to render services at Matheran (where it has a centre which takes care of horses exploited to entertain tourists) and other towns. The organisation also conducts animal awareness programmes for school children. It has achieved its target of sterilising 400 dogs per month. It has also spread its wings to other territories like Navi Mumbai and Neral, and also started a ‘Free Mobile Clinic for Street Animals’. The mobile clinics treat animals with minor ailments like skin infections, cough & cold on the road itself, with follow up. IDA-I now wants to extend its advocacy and care to other animals like bullocks, ponies, donkeys and birds as well.

IDA-I has several plans which will be taken up when it has adequate volunteers. It wants to work at saving animals exploited by circuses and wants to sensitise children to cruelty to animals and step up the campaign against dissection of frogs, earthworms, cockroaches, in schools and colleges and substitute it with computer-aided training.

IDA-I encourages animal lovers to visit its shelters to feed animals, spend time with them or donate for their upkeep. It also has dogs and cats for adoption and tracks them if they are abandoned by the adopting family. You can contribute to IDA-I financially or in kind—by way of food, dog food, feeding bowls, medical equipment, etc. Donations are tax-exempt under Section 80-G of the Income-Tax Act 1961. Donation details are available on the website of IDA-I.