Click to play videoNew Delhi: Butterfly and Sammy are two young donkeys that were found abandoned on a highway. Lucky, a wheelchair-bound dog, was hit with a motorbike. And Meeku lost his arm during an accident. All of these animals are surviving today because of donations given to animal NGOs.
“We are getting one fourth of the donation that we had been getting,” Irani Mukherjee lamented indicating the drop in donations.
With over a 100 shelters in the country and each having an average of 300 animals, the cost of one day for the shelter easily crosses Rs 10,000. With the government providing little funds, shelters rely on donors. But as the panic of the financial meltdown spreads, the drop in donations is evident.
“After recession hit globally, there is a lot of difference in individual donations. People don't want to spend that much of money as they used to spend before,” Dr Vinod Sharma said.
Apart from food, the animals also require regular medication and attention. Then there are electricity bills, ambulance costs and staff salary.
“We need a new endoscopy machine now which is very expensive but it is the need,” Dr Sharma said.
As the economy crashes, the future of these animals too seems uncertain.
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