Anthropo-why?

Over the past couple of years, I've stumbled over, actively pursued and devoured several books on the topic of animal behaviour and cognition. It's a field that seems to be spoken about more frequently in books, which can be passed off as extended opinion pieces, rather than in factual, objective, scientific papers. Perhaps that's also because most long-time behaviourists find it easier to put their thoughts out into the larger, more accepting public than have them critiqued in the cautious world of scientific journals. The primary reason for this discouragement of juicy, emotional material in the academic world is one giant, taboo word - anthropomorphism.

I've wanted to write about this for nearly two years, but haven't because I was constantly reminded of the several unread, cognition-based books lying on my shelf that could change my mind about the topic. What I've found instead, with more reading, is nothing but mounting evidence for why the constant cautiousness regarding anthropomorphism may be unneeded. I received a final push to support the 'Of Course Animals Have Emotions!' team after reading what Carl Safina had to say about the matter.

"Evidence and logic can be trustworthy guides. In fact, one term for evidence+logic is: 'science'." 

This is the stance that seems to be lacking in the community of behaviour scientists who look solely at descriptive ways of recording behaviour and actions without attempting to interpret them. It is widely accepted to say, "The elephant approached her dead calf, ran her trunk over him slowly, and stayed with its carcass for three days before joining her herd that had moved on" but not to say, "The elephant was experiencing grief". By fearing that one is anthropomorphising an animal in doing so, one is being all the more anthropocentric.

I've finally learned that there is a wealth of undeniable evidence, from a cumulative of several hundred years of observations, of intelligence and emotion in the animal kingdom. This, combined with the logic that any scientist (or layman) who has been exposed to certain species for several years possesses, could come together to produce wonderful science, finally laying the foundation literature that better understanding of animal cognition must rest upon. An unnamed scientist once loosely mentioned, "I have no way of knowing if that elephant is any more conscious than this bush". I feel compelled to point out that elephants are known to make decisions, care for their offspring and, perhaps even more interestingly, share nearly the same nervous and hormonal systems as human beings. This is just one of many cases of ignoring hard evidence in the hope of remaining an objective, well-reputed researcher.

One of the reasons why most scientists only tell stories and write articles or books about their evidences for feeling and emotion in animals is that such 'stories' or 'anecdotes' fail to fit the scientific framework of collecting empirical data, analyzing it, and producing statistical evidence for or against their hypotheses. But, quoting an eloquent professor of mine, "there's no such thing as anecdotal data". This is further substantiated by an uncomfortably small niche of literature like this one. If more behaviourists or ecologists began publishing isolated instances of interesting behaviour, even if purely descriptive and non-inferential in nature, these so-called anecdotes could potentially collect over time to produce the statistical support needed to validate them within that very scientific realm. The collective support of past researchers who took the effort to inform the world about their chance anecdotes could encourage others to look closer for similar (or identical) behaviours, together building upon the subject and enriching it.

From Jane Goodall who speaks of emotion in chimpanzees to Rick McIntyre who studied wolves, multiple researchers and authors have passionately advocated for the recognition of emotion in the animal kingdom. A recent book, 'The Hidden Life of Trees', speaks of how trees, too, communicate and feel. The fact that animals perceive and respond to others around them and feel fundamentally physiological emotions like pleasure and grief, or feel the need to play and relax may be more readily accepted among the pet-owner community. I highly doubt that anyone who's known a dog, cat, pig, bird or any other (hopefully non-exotic) pet disagrees with the fact that animals can make bonds with other living beings and emote in ways that we can, at least partially, understand. Whining dogs or spitting cats are understood by their owners, behaviourists or not.

To truly understand an animal, we must delve into topics like consciousness, awareness, intelligence and emotion. None of these, however, have any standard definitions. Each of these could mean different things based on the fields we come from, and so, sentience - an amalgamation of all of these - remains undefined as well. We distance ourselves from these topics, trying to have an objective, outsider view of things, but this seems to me like losing valuable data. We are already on the inside. We share so much of the physiology that a plethora of other animals have, that we ought to be using our knowledge of how emotions manifest in our minds to better understand that of other beings.

Our evolutionary relationship with animals is sadly misinterpreted due to years of convincing ourselves that "humans" and "animals" are two completely separate categories. It's us versus them. Although we train animals to work for us, share diseases and living space, it's near impossible to believe or even imagine that we fall into the same bracket of beings. Our insecurities as a species are beginning to creep into our science and hinder it from progressing.

So sure, we may be one of the only species to feel sadness, happiness, love or pain in the poetic sense. But it's time we realized and acknowledged that these emotions do exist in other species that we've spent decades studying. Even if their grief is different from ours, it still exists. Truly comprehending the nature of these emotions is a huge task which will probably require the use of future advancements in science, but admitting that they exist is the first step towards it - one that we should have taken a long time ago.

Cynthia Moss, who spent over 50 years studying elephants in Amboseli National Park, had this to say:

"I'm interested in them as elephants. Comparing elephants to people - I don't find it helpful. I find it much more interesting trying to understand an animal as itself. How does a bird like a crow, say, with so small a brain, make the amazing decisions it makes? Comparing it to a three-year-old child - that doesn't interest me."

This is our biggest clue to overcome our ingrained fear of objectivity in studying animal cognition. We need make inferences about the animals we study without bringing to them our own emotional baggages and insecurities. Anthropocentrism, if not dealt with soon, could plague our research for good. The qualities and characteristics that we so staunchly believe are purely human, like friendship, compassion, sorrow, happiness did not suddenly come into existence with the evolutionary step into a world of Homo sapiens. These are deep-rooted in times that predate mankind. Our brain's origin is inseparable from that of other species'. Just like our mind.

An Ecology Project To Remember

About two months ago, as part of an ecology project from college, three friends and I decided to hunt for bats in and around the city instead of studying water samples from dirty rivers in our labs. Our professor was thrilled to know we wanted to do field work and we were given the green signal as soon as we proposed our idea. Together, we ended up having an absolute blast and, not to mention, professorial appreciation.

Now, Teental has always been very non-academic in its approach, but this doesn't count as scientific jargon. Below are excerpts from the paper I wrote based on our project- for I feel people should know about how unkempt they can be. Enjoy.

"The first day of our visit was coincidentally the day of Maha Shivratri- a day when the Elephanta Festival was being celebrated. This day is a prosperous one for the locals who work there for it is a goldmine of opportunity for their livelihood. Locals from various parts of Maharashtra, too, visit the island in order to sell their delicacies and other ethnic products. Throngs of people come to the island in fishing boats and ferries to part take in the festivities- dressed in their finest clothing. Our group of four was just one of many that visited the island on this given day. Unaware of the festival for the day, we were taken aback by the sheer number of people on the otherwise relatively peaceful island. It wasn’t until we climbed up the long flight of stairs to the entrance of the caves that we discovered what all the noise was about.

The pathway up to Elephanta caves is flanked by salesmen and their stalls- selling a vast range of merchandise, from hats and souvenirs to jewelry and clothes. However, these stalls are there throughout the year. The pathway is also spotted by restaurants and food stalls- attracting the monkeys down from the hills, hoping to get their tiny, human-like hands on any vulnerable tourist’s lunch.

Upon entering the trail just below the caves which leads to the eastern side of the island, we were suddenly bombarded by innumerable hawkers and tourists. The entire trail toward the forested area was blocked up by these salesmen and their customers. We knew then that our task for the day would not be easy. Apart from the presence of people in such large numbers, there was incessant noise ringing throughout the island owing to chatter, screaming and crying children, prayer chants and hawkers calling out to customers. There were excited groups throwing food and packets at the monkeys that had come down from their trees opportunistically to eat from the fascinated people. But worst of all, was the garbage. Every stall produced heaps and heaps of waste which were carelessly tossed over the hillside or dumped behind the promenade. Even small foodstuffs like kairi and cucumber were being sold in plastic packets, which were promptly thrown away along the trail once its contents had been downed. Children were being instructed by their parents to litter around despite the fact that everyone carried bags in which they could have carried the waste away with them. Apart from the tourists, none of the hawkers had dustbins alongside their stalls- which didn’t leave their visitors with many other options. I was particularly surprised when I found a man selling cigarettes and lighters (and making very good business) when smoking in public places is prohibited by law.

We were relieved to get away from the heavy crowd of people when we began climbing upward, off the trail and into the wooded area. The trees and altitude were efficient in cutting off the sound once we got about 200 feet above the ground level. What was becoming painfully clear was that it was still the dry season at Elephanta and a large percentage of vegetation was still bare. (600feet up to Elephanta caves+500feet up the hill) This directly pointed toward the low probability of spotting tree-dwelling bats in that area. From roughly half way up, we took stalk of the green areas lying above us and set off toward them. We found some fruiting trees and some wild berries and a few Banyan trees. However, apart from a few common birds, we found no other winged beasts. We continued combing the landscape with our eyes and searching for signs of bats, but in vain. However, we were finding several clues as to absence of these flying mammals. Keeping a continuous record of our findings, we finally descended back to where our own species was creating more racket than all the birds on the island could produce combined. We completed the trail for whatever it was worth and ensured that we had covered as much area as was accessible on the eastern side of the island.

As the day progressed, more and more people began visiting the island and at about 2pm, it had more people there than we would’ve ever imagined. It took us a long time to climb down the stairs back to the ferry, simply as the route was blocked by people climbing up and down or shopping along the way. The experience was both surprising and disturbing. Back on the Ferry, people were finishing off their snacks from the island and tossing their empty wrappers overboard at the sea gulls or otherwise- despite the presence of a dustbin on board.

Day two on the island was much calmer, as the festivities were done with and most of the stalls had disappeared. Only those stalls leading up to the caves remained, which caused minimal disturbance to the ecosystem there. As we arrived earlier than the previous day, it was nearly deserted to begin with. Taking advantage of this, we headed straight for the caves where we’d have enough time to search through them before the tourists arrived.

We went in order, starting with Cave number 1. There, much to our delight, above the main statue at the back of the cave, were clusters of bats hanging from the ceiling. They cling on to the walls with their claws in the dark. Upon closer inspection, they were found to be clusters of Asiatic Greater Yellow House Bats. This was an exciting finding for us. Along the ceiling, running away from the main idol but is fair proximity to the Yellow House Bats were slightly larger bats, which were later identified as Fulvous Roundleaf Bats. A healthy population of about fifty bats in total was seen in that cave.

We spoke to one of the guards there about the presence of cave-bats. The first one promptly assured us that there were no bats in the cave- probably hoping to reassure us about our safety. We went on to ask him about whether tree-dwelling bats were there on the island and he nodded in affirmative and told us that are present near Canon Hill. We weren’t sure how much to believe him, but we decided to look into his claims once we were done with the caves. Another guard who was more experienced than the former asked us to search for bats in cave number 5. Thanking him, we continued our search.

Investigations in Caves 2, 3 and 4 yielded no results, however we found calcification along the walls and droppings- both of which were indicative of bats visiting the area. The caves were also dotted with insect eggs and wasp nests- both of which are prey to the bats. Thus, it is quite possible that even though the bats do not roost in these caves, they visit them after dusk to forage. We moved on.

Cave number 5, true to the second guard, proved to be home to a large number of cave bats. They were, however, hard to spot initially. The cave is devoid of any sculptures and is relatively dry in comparison to the others. Staring into the darkness, we were rewarded by three bats flying away from us in response to my camera’s flash. They were definitely larger than the ones we found in Cave number 1 and seemed to be easily perturbed by people. These bats flew right across us and into a narrow gash in the cave which opened up into a small dome. We crawled into the narrow space and found several bats of that same species flying about inside. It was very hard to capture images of them due to the low light conditions and the speed at which they flew. Within the same cave, we discovered another corner which housed the same bats and they kept flying between the domed cave and the open corner. These bats were definitely different from the ones from the previous cave. On subsequent comparison between the photographs we obtained and the available literature, we found that these were the Greater False Vampire bats. Thus, Cave 5 was where we found the most number of bats and the most active ones as well.

It was also evident from this, that the bats were constantly disturbed by the people and that their roosting areas were exposed to thoroughfare. However, they have been residing within these caves for several years now and are probably accustomed to sharing their home.

After finding these cave-dwelling bats, we continued on our search for tree-dwelling ones. We trekked upward once more, but this time, on the western side along Canon hill. This one was directly opposite the hill we climbed on Day One and we could retrace our path across it easily from where we were. As on the 17^th, we systematically followed the trail and left it every few meters to explore its surroundings and made a point to check every fruiting tree in the area. However, we did not find any Indian Flying Fox or other bats.

Before leaving the island, we paid one more visit to the eastern front of the island in order to check on the damage caused post Maha Shivratri and all its festivities. The trail seemed deceptively clean and we were, to say the least, astonished. We turned back to head to the Ferry when we looked down the hill slopes. The entire slope and landscape were streaked with garbage- plastic bags of varying sizes, bottles, cans, packets, broken toys, cigarette butts and more. It was a sorry sight. Even the monkeys kept away from all the junk. That holiday had a terrible effect on the nature surrounding the caves and the animals depending on it.

So, we left the island with mixed feelings and finally, some results.

.....The natural flora and fauna of the island is beautiful and diverse. It is home to about a 100 bird species- including migratory birds- and some common mammals as well. It is also home to species of the only flying mammal- bats. However, since the caves are a hot tourist attraction, being a heritage structure, it has been populated by people who now make a living from the visitors. The entrance to the island is dotted with boards asking people to keep the area clean, but ironically, we found large amounts of garbage at the feet of these boards themselves. It is full of well-educated people ignoring their better judgement and littering indiscriminately. Along with the dearth of general awareness regarding cleanliness, there’s an unfortunate dearth of ecological conscience. Somehow, this must be instilled within people. Instead of fixing the problem, the people there are getting used to the litter around and are learning to co-exist with it. It’s about time we realized that garbage, this invasive species, has to go. On the slightly brighter side, there were dustbins placed strategically at all the wrong places.  The best part about the maintenance of the island is that it is solar powered- which is a brilliant idea considering the amount of sunlight that the island receives daily."

Carl Akeley

Carl Akeley was a taxidermist. A taxidermist with inordinate amounts of perseverance, passion and patience. A man who redefined the purpose of taxidermy and made it an acknowledged art form.
Working at the American Museum of Natural History, Akeley worked on a plan to build the African Hall. It would depict lives of animals of the great African wilderness as they truly are and not as a figment of human imagination.
He had a special love for elephants. These large, gentle giants were the center of his art through his life. He had many testing expeditions to Africa in search of the perfect specimens to shoot down. He would acquire large males, females and young calves. On being shot, their skins were painstakingly removed and cured for use. A master in his own line, Akeley kept working on better methods of taxidermy. He would often completely change his methodology and strove to share his knowledge with others. He was keen on projecting taxidermy as an art form. He created some of the finest specimens ever produced. Renowned scholars and artists highly commended and validated his work.
Akeley came to be a close friend of the then President, Theodore Roosevelt. He accompanied Akeley on one of his expeditions and even shot one of the elephants that stands today at the museum. It was on this expedition that they acquired a small elephant family for another display.
Akeley also worked extensively with gorillas in his later years and they inspired him to build a moving picture camera especially to record African wildlife. It was his quest to prove that gorillas were not the easily-angered, dangerous and violent creatures they were always made out to be. He was genuinely annoyed when a specimen of a charging, teeth-gnashing gorilla was presented to the museum. He shot a number of gorillas for his own creations. He also went on to be the first to record gorillas in their natural environment.

Akeley faced numerous near-death experiences with the animals he hunted. He had been attacked fiercely by both elephant and gorilla. But he never let these incidents keep him from continuing on after them.
Although Akeley wasn't alive to see through the end of his dream project of the African Hall, his close colleagues and his wife completed it for him. Today, known as the Akeley Arfican Hall, it stands with its life-like specimens against realistic painted backgrounds. Over two million people honour this hall every year through their visits.

Carl Akeley was a great man, a perfectionist in every respect and a pioneer in his field of science. But I refrain from being full of praise for him. He was looked up to for his love of animals. He was angered to hear of animals being hunted down. This amuses me. How was what he did proving his love for animals? He shot down numerous elephants, including calves and group leaders, breaking up their families and dismembering them; just so they could be reconstructed for human viewing pleasure. Study of anatomy is one way of looking at it. But I ask myself, was there no better way?
Elephants are perhaps, the most emotional of all mammals. To them, every member of the family matters and is loved. Even the natural death of one of their herd calls for a long mourning. The sudden death of the most important links of their herd, including their young ones has the most heart-breaking impact on the herd. To be able to kill so many, without having a conscience to stop you, is an extremely selfish ability. The love for his work far exceeded his love for nature. I wouldn't sympathize with him for the injuries he acquired from an agitated elephant. I would sympathize with the elephant and its entire herd for having to endure such cruelty. Just as the elephants suffered at his hands, so did the gorillas. Gorillas are gregarious animals that are highly dependent on their alpha male leader. He is a symbol of security for them. These males were Akeley's main target and was the first gorilla he managed to shoot; a large, silver back. This caused an  immense outcry- an actual, sulking outcry from the females of the group. This first experience didn't prick him, it made him go forth and shoot two females and a baby.
The results of these killings may be beautiful artworks that spreads knowledge about animals; but was it really worth all the pain and death? Does that justify what Akeley did? Does that make him different from hunters?
Shooting of animals shouldn't be influenced by their populations. It should be influenced by an inner conscience. This conscience was lacking in Akeley. He was obsessive about his work, for a need to do better. The fact that he was never satisfied and always wanted to push himself further, just lead to the death of more and more animals. He turned elephants into guinea pigs.
He was, in my eyes, a hypocrite. And delusional about his true passion. It is important to have perspective. To be aware of your actions and be responsible for them. Akeley neither thought he was doing wrong, nor took any responsibility for what he did. All he took was praise of the highest order and large monetary gifts that allowed him to carry on with his sinister work.
There's nothing more valuable than life. Life of a fly, life of a wolf, life of a monkey, life of a whale. Humans must come to terms with the fact that we cannot play God. It is not our prerogative to decide who deserves to live and who doesn't. All life must be respected, must be cherished and nurtured. And if not these things, in the least, should be left at peace. Each one unto itself. Nothing is more precious than a life.

Into The Wild- The story of Christopher Johnson McCandless

Into The Wild was very strongly recommended to me by a close friend of mine a few months back. Ever since, I had been eager to watch it- and now I finally have.

I haven't been so inspired in a long time. I have so much awe and respect for everything he did, for the way he thought, for the life he gave himself. It takes extreme courage to do the things he did and to make the sacrifices he made. But after watching the movie and reading about him, they don't seem like sacrifices- he was just liberating himself. The less he had, the more free he was. The less he knew, the more there was to discover. The deeper into the wild he went, the closer he got to understanding people and their greedy ways. It's like the lyrics of Society; they're so beautiful in their meaning, because it's the plain, simple truth. We want more than we need. We're not free until we have it all. It's all too materialistic and monetary. We just hoard in on things, not on experiences and joys. Life is about putting yourself out in the world and living, not about buying things to try and improve your sedentary existence. It's not about bickering and fighting. It's not about pitting your ego against someone else's. It doesn't matter who wins an argument. Chris McCandless's (Alexander Supertramp's) story is a lot deeper than just the craze of living out in the wild and enjoying nature in the raw. It isn't merely about survival or tragedy. It's so much more than that. It's about the thirst for freedom. But not just any freedom. Freedom from the clutches of routine, from the cliche's of human behavior, from the ruins that people have created around themselves. This was his rebellion. His way of having a life.

Throughout his travels, he touched many hearts because of the pure and honest person he was. He wasn't pretentious. He didn't judge people by their things or situations. The kind of books he read, the things he learned along the way, seemed to have molded him into becoming who he was. Philosophical, analytic, practical. His perspective on life was so uniquely different- and it was the right one. Perhaps if everyone had the same outlook on life, we'd be a happier folk.

He struggled. He truly struggled to find his place in this world. Life wasn't a breeze for him once he left home. he certainly was a supertramp and he proved it to everyone. Going to Alaska was no joke, but it was his ultimate dream and he made sure he got there. After spending over 100 days there, the books he read lead him to the truth. He wanted to forgive his parents, the people around him. He realized he was running away when he shouldn't. He decided he'd had enough of this life. He had nothing more to prove. He packed up to leave, but when he did, the massive river was in turmoil making it impossible to cross over into civilization. Mapless, directionless and nearly foodless, he was forced to retreat back to his magic bus. There was no game for him to hunt, only the wild trees, plants, shrubs.

The movie claims he ate a poisonous potato plant- one that hampered with the digestive system and thus lead to starvation and ultimately death. This he realized when he read about it in his book on the local fauna. He knew death was inevitable. How painful it must have been. He was so close to going home, so close to happiness, so close to doing what he felt was right. And now here he was, crippled by his fate, laying weak and helpless in his magic bus and there was nothing he could do. He must have been so lonely, so utterly hopeless, so scared. He waited for death as he saw the life leave him day after day, moment after moment. He was miserable. He died with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face, staring up at the blue skies. There's a line he uses in the end that's very beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes. He says, "What if I were smiling and running into your arms? Would you see then what I see now?"
How could they?

It took a lot of courage to be Alexander Supertramp. Pain, agony, suffering, deceit, denial, trauma, indignation, sadness and yet through it all, a ringing peacefulness and an underlying happiness. I admire that man. His death was tragic and unfair. He was a man who deserved to live. But one thing's certain- he squeezed all he could out of the years he had and he had a good life. Throughout his travels, his insisted ignorance made things more exciting, more adventurous...but it got the better of him in the end and that breaks my heart.

People have been very rude and strong in their criticism of him and his exploits. But they're all too blind. None of them would have in them what it took to be Chris and none of them are broad-minded enough to realize the truth behind his actions. He was so angry with society and he couldn't take it anymore. I feel he was right in his retaliation and unless put in his shoes, one shouldn't make such blatant comments about the way he conducted his life.
Chris McCandless, rest in peace- you really deserve to. 

My heart- wrenched.

Bakri Id is a festival I've attempted to understand. However, it's one I have failed to. Every year, thousands of goats are brutally slaughtered. A ritual practiced by the Muslims, wherein they 'sacrifice' a goat or sheep in the name of God. The goats are bred, brought up, fed, fattened and in fact, loved by these people all year round only to face their inevitable fate. I definitely think it's high time they came up with a better alternative to these ridiculously barbaric practices. This mass slaughter is simply not done. It's inhumane and bloody. It's foul and morbid. It breaks my heart every year to see a bunch of goats tied together a few days before this blasted day, being escorted to their respective murder houses. If only they knew... Today I happened to see some terribly dreadful sights. Carcasses of goats lying on the ground. The details are too painful to describe. I was left nauseated with a sickening knot in my stomach.

To all those innocent goats who were made to sacrifice their lives in the name of God, I mourn for you. May your souls rest in peace. 

The silent sufferers

While we all love the rain, the cool breeze, the smell of the earth and the lush greenery all around, the monsoons is perhaps the hardest season for stray animals to see through. It's the ever-moist season when skin diseases spread, scabs don't dry, sores get worse, wounds don't heal and they run the risk of getting septic. You find cows, dogs, cats and crows with gaping, open wounds shivering in the cold.

There are many accidents too; with the slippery roads, cars keep ramming into unaware strays. The lucky ones escape with a limp but some not so fortunate ones succumb. Rarely do drivers take responsibility for these cases either. It's terrible to hear of such instances or see them happen and know that there's little you really can do.

But let's think of the things that we can do: we look at these helpless animals struggling to fend for themselves in dire conditions, often with illnesses or wounds dragging them down. We feel miserable when we see them suffer. But sadly, just a handful of us will actually try to help them; because only a handful of us know we can.

There are organizations such as the ASHA foundation and Animals Matter to Me, apart from SPCA who work incredibly hard during times like these to help the animals brought to them. However, it's a huge responsibility that they cannot take on single handed. If we see an animal that needs help, informing these foundations should be our reflex action-and even more importantly, following through. Places like these get at least 30 such calls in a day and they need our support to treat each and every animal that get's called in. Be co-operative and determined. Once you've got the animal in their clinics, your job is done. You'll feel immense satisfaction for having been able to help.

This isn’t the only way you can contribute. These organizations run solely on public donations and funds collected during fundraising events. They face a constant need for medicines and medical supplies. By making a donation or by directly providing common medicines and amenities like cotton swabs, syringes, sterile needles, antiseptic gloves, etc, you’d be of great help. Any donation large or small is appreciated by these foundations; after all, every little bit counts.

During the monsoons, when there are numerous injured and sick animals being brought in daily, an extra pair of hands on board is a boon. Volunteering with SPCA, ASHA foundation or any org of your choice is by far the best you could do to make a difference. You don’t need to be a trained specialist to be able to volunteer. Doing simple things like walking and grooming dogs, tending to the cleanliness of the kennels, feeding the animals, being a canine/feline companion, fostering an animal and doing data entry are some of the many things you could do.

For further information on how you can work towards helping animals this monsoon, visit the links given below.

ASHA foundation-9820127085

Animals Matter To Me Mumbai-9819380310

SPCA-022-24137518

http://www.bombayspca.org/helpus_volunteer.html

http://www.ashafoundationindia.org/how-you-can-help.html

http://www.petdig.com/info/pet/activities/963/