PUPPY LOVE: From fire brigade to BMC, everyone including rapper divine did their bit to save this canine
Nine days after a dog with four pups fell into a nullah in Andheri, a 24-old-year postgraduate student managed to rescue her on Sunday morning, after an unrelenting effort that saw her engage everyone from city authorities to her neighbours.
For the first eight days, Alisha Gonsalves took the help of police and fire brigade officials in her effort to pull out the mutt, but the endeavour did not yield result. Finally, with the help of a non-profit and some Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) workers, she managed to save the dog's life.
Gonsalves is a resident of Sybilvas Chawl at JB Nagar in Andheri East. She is currently pursuing an MBA in finance.
Speaking with DNA, Gonsalves, an animal lover, said, "On July 12, I saw that four little puppies were barking near the nullah which is just outside my chawl. When I checked, I found a female doggie who was sleeping inside. But when I checked again just the day after, I found the same dog in the nullah. I realised then that she was not sleeping, but had accidentally fallen into the drain."
Gonsalves began roping in different agencies for help and at the same time started tossing "chicken, biscuits, pao, chapatis and such things" out to the dog in a box. "The dog ate all the food I gave her."
She said: "The very next day, I informed the fire brigade and they arrived for help. But the officials could not catch the dog; she tried to run away. After many attempts, they returned empty-handed. They had spent two hours trying to get the canine. I didn't lose hope and asked my society members for help. But they refused to do it."
Gonsalves then turned to Save The Paws NGO, based in Andheri. They rushed to the spot with a team of 12 people, armed with a with rope, ladder and other equipment.
"We received the call from Gonsalves and tried to rescue the dog, but we failed the first day. On Sunday morning around 8.00 am, we resumed the effort. We also took BMC's help and finally succeeded in bringing out the dog with the help of a dog catcher's net," said Poonam Malhotra Gidwani, the NGO's president.
"We have added Gonsalves to our team as a volunteer. She is now taking care of the dog's four kids," said Malhotra.
Gonsalves was relieved. "I am very happy that I managed to save the dog. I am grateful to the NGO and the BMC."
RAPPER AT RESCUE
When Mumbai’s top rapper DIVINE came to know about the rescue effort mounted by Alisha Gonsalves (extreme right, back), he uploaded a video on YouTube, asking people to help with pulling out the dog from the drain. The artist received many likes for his post, but did not get any help.
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