Paige Powell Visits the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Center
 

Paige Powell visited the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Center in Delhi, India many times and serves on their Board of Directors. She writes about the history and mission of the Center.

Meneka Gandhi, former Minister of the Environment and widow of Sanjay Gandhi (the youngest son of India’s prime minister, Indira) runs The Sanjay Gandhi Animal Center in Delhi, India. Gandhi’s deep concern for the plight of animals in India led her to run the Animal Welfare program, of which the Sanjay Gandhi Center is an integral part.

Located on the outskirts of Delhi in a poor neighborhood with many diseased and malnourished dogs, the shelter is always at capacity so it is impossible to pick up and care for most of these unfortunate creatures. In India one rarely sees a cat on the streets because of the terrible overpopulation of starved canines. 

Inside the unusually quiet grounds of the shelter lies a pretty walkway and wild garden leading to a little hospital. It is extremely crude and somewhat unsanitary, but it is all they have. There are about 120 dogs that are safe but undernourished and infected with worms. The dogs wait in a holding area for someone to adopt them. There are monkeys that were beaten into submission by their owners for not performing on the streets; there are cows, horses, oxen, birds and pigs . . . all physically injured and damaged by humans.

The Gandhi Animal Center takes to the streets and picks up the street dogs for spaying, neutering and vaccination. The dogs are then returned to the area where they were picked up. The dogs also are tattooed on the ear to protect them from being killed for rabies and repeated sterilization. Meneka Gandhi has been devoting her life to this desperate and epidemic situation in India. She has not been given much to work with in the way of funds and financial support. Gandhi herself lives with 14 street dogs that were all saved from severe disease and malnourishment. One of these dogs was found with half its head eaten by maggots, and had been left to die on the side of the road.

India is not as respectful of animals as one might imagine. The rich and upper caste members buy expensive purebreds from European breeders and ignore the starving street dogs outside their palatial homes. On the roads you see dead cows, pigs, horses, dogs, camels and other hoof stock killed by speeding trucks and cars; tiny and undernourished ponies carry loads far beyond their capabilities. Overburdened camels are forced to compete for space on the roads with fast driving (no speed limits) petrol trucks, buses and cars.

Gandhi and the Center workers are trying to educate India about the preservation of wildlife and the urgent need to control the population of street animals. She needs your help.

Gandhi is sponsoring an exchange program for veterinary students or vets in the U.S. who would like to go to Delhi and help train the Center vets and vet assistants in up-to-date veterinary practices. The exchanges can be for six months or a year. Gandhi will provide room and board in Delhi for the duration of the exchange. If you are interested in learning more about the exchange opportunity, call or write to the Center:

Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Center
Raja Garden
New Delhi
India 110027
Phone: (check the international dialing codes first) 544 8806
 

The Center also urgently needs some basic medical supplies. If you or someone you know is planning a trip near Delhi, please consider bringing them some supplies. Click here to find out what they need.