by Life Positive

Five years ago, Avis saw the inhuman way in which dogs were treated in Kerala while on holiday, and resolved to do something about it. She moved to Kerala, and even sold all her property in England to fund her organization.

By sterilizing and vaccinating hundreds of dogs in Vizhinjam over the last five years, she has completely eliminated the stray dog menace in that area. In other words, the ABC (Animal Birth Control) was successfully implemented with the incidence of rabies being zero.  She is now known as the animal madama (the word in Malayalam for a white lady), and hers is the best-known animal shelter in the area, to which people bring their animals for sterilization and care when wounded.

“The rickshaw drivers in the area were initially reluctant to take in animals, but seeing them well-behaved, are now more than happy to take them,” she says. She emphasizes that aggression reduces, and, in fact, almost vanishes with sterilization, and no animal generally attacks unless he is threatened or scared.

One would think her example would be inspiring for others, but unfortunately, it is not so. She is now fighting for her right to stay on there, and continue her mission, for the authorities are allegedly bent upon continuing the killing of the strays, often barbarically. This is under the aegis of the Kerala government’s programme, Suraksha (a tragic misnomer). One hopes she finds the strength to continue bringing solace to animals, in our land of ahimsa.