The solitary reaper

The 8.3 acre plot is as it was 132 years ago, the lone animal hospital in a city of over 21 million – humans, that is. The only animal headcount that seems to matter in India, the national livestock census, gives us a figure of 512.05 million (2012). Back to the city in question: greater Mumbai has 95,172 stray dogs, as per a 2014 report by Humane Society International.

But also consider cats, pedigree dogs, birds, horses and large mammals. It all boils down to one ratio – 8.3:149004.5. In short, a hospital on 8.3 acres, treating myriad species, serves a 149,004.5 acre or 603 sq.km-large Mumbai.

And here's the digestif: 15-20 animals are deserted at the Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals – at the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) – every month.

This is grey Mumbai, where abandonment is rife, empathy scarce and options rarer still.

"No one bothers about a human who's been run over, who'll care for an animal?" asks Lt Col (Dr) JC Khanna, pointing to a three-legged pup bounding across the premises. A woefully emaciated, once-majestic greyhound struggles to walk outside the clinic a few yards away.

Preparations are on for the second edition of BSPCA's Woofs & Hoofs Carnival and Fundraiser today at the Royal Western India Turf Club. Last year, BSPCA made enough to renovate its horse and dog wards. This year, Khanna hopes to have funds for a horse paddock.

"When I first came here, the hospital didn't even have enough water. We relied on tankers," remembers the 65-year-old. "There was no mortuary either, so deceased animals had to be preserved in ice and sawdust."
It took the generosity of a couple, Nitin and Deepa Khanapurkar, to donate an air-conditioned animal morgue – the only one in India – in memory of their cat, Blackie.

As secretary of BSPCA and the animal hospital for 12 years now, the former army veteran has overseen several initiatives for a terribly overburdened charity organisation. These include the fundraising carnival, rainwater harvesting and a gobar gas plant, renovated operation theatres and more ambulances. Before joining BSPCA, Khanna served in the army's Remount Veterinary Corps' K-9 (dog) and equine units, including stints in the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka.

"My father served in the military farms, so this was something I always wanted to do," says Khanna. "And let me tell you, veterinary science in India has seen a sea change over the years."

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But 'sea change' isn't synonymous with 'exemplary'. The sector here has creaky floorboards, weighed down by lack of quality training, evidence of a liking for animals not being a prerequisite and a clamour for sarkari jobs. Club this with the dearth of SPCAs and general disinclination to take animal health seriously, and you have a sinister hydra to combat.

And unlike the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act 2002, where offences attract a 3-7 year prison term and fines of Rs.10,000-25,000 (meagre, given the scope of the exotic pet and smuggling trades), the penalty in The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 (PCA) is… Rs.50.

"Fines collected by BSPCA inspectors go to the government treasury," explains Khanna. "Twenty per cent is kept by them as 'administrative charges'. But getting the 80 per cent is a Herculean task. Lakhs and lakhs is still with the government."

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India's approach to animal welfare is antithetical at best. A country that bans animal testing for cosmetics and keeping cetaceans captive, in the same breath, does little to monitor the dairy industry. The world's largest producer of milk is also of one the worst abusers of cows.

This is where flesh is considered holy, but well-being isn't.

"Many cows aren't even fed. They're made to eat from kachra kundis, then pumped with oxytocin and milked dry before being abandoned," he shakes his head. "They have desensitised upper lips, so they aren't aware of what they ingest. If plastic accumulates in cows' stomachs, they bloat up and die slow, painful deaths."

BSPCA's cattle ward, with a capacity of 50, is home to injured, abandoned, and temporarily-housed bovines, goats and a lamb. The oldest resident at the nearby horse stall is Sultan, the brown steed abandoned at the hospital gate after sustaining a grievous injury to his rear left hoof. A swelling persists eight years later, but so does Sultan's place in the hearts of many. As does Sheru, the mutt who survived three bullets in the Mumbai terror attacks.

"He was closer to humans than dogs and didn't even want to mate," laughs Khanna, reminiscing about the star attraction who died in 2014. "And there was Kaveri, the camel we'd rescued from slaughter on Bakr-Eid 10 years ago. There was so much hostility, we got her here with a court order and police backup. She was pregnant and gave birth on Maha Shivratri, so we named the calf Shiva."

Shiva didn't live long – his mother was too weak to care for him – but the memories linger. Kaveri herself had a tumultuous journey post-rescue: sent by a well-wisher to a shelter in Kutch only to be starved there too, she was finally adopted by a shepherd from the Rabari community.

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Lt Col (Dr) JC Khanna has had as many in-house hurdles to clear too. Last year, BSPCA staff went on strike to demand pay hikes. The situation was so dire that animal lovers volunteered to treat, feed and clean animals in the employees' absence.

In 2014, the hospital was temporarily unable to conduct surgeries due to the government ban on import of narcotics like phenobarbitone (anticonvulsant) and ketamine (painkiller). The Food and Drug Administration eventually came to BSPCA's rescue, and Khanna claims the staff pay grievances have been addressed. But the most pervasive ghost he contends with is the hushed whispers about BSPCA's high stray dog mortality rate.

"Many are brought in a critical state. Also, ownerless animals are treated for free. Putting an animal down costs money too. Why would we perform 'needless surgeries' on strays and blow lakhs a month?" he rebuts.

To say the army veteran is a divisive figure in India's animal welfare community is putting it mildly. Khanna isn't for black and white: he thinks zoos are fine if the animals are well cared for ("If Singapore Zoo can do a good job, why not we? But Jijamata Udyan wants penguins. You think they'll survive there?") and that it's alright for animals to be used for entertainment. "Not wild animals, of course. But pedigree have dogs jumping through hoops and performing tricks. How's that different from a circus?"

He also lets out a nervous laugh when asked about animal experimentation, offering just a nugget: "One has to be balanced."

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Between rescuing Olive Ridley turtles to emus abandoned by farms not profiting from their meat, Khanna is concerned by the probable loss of green cover at Aarey Colony. More birds are dying due to dehydration, loss of habitat and manjhas, he asserts, and we can't have their last bastion steamrolled.

He's also pushing for greater Mumbai to have one more animal hospital (Thane SPCA has a small one, and land has been earmarked for a hospital in Navi Mumbai).

But it's poor awareness that infuriates him the most.

"I once saw a man here feed his dog a banana. When the animal didn't eat, the owner said 'Arre, aaj uska apple waala din hai.' That dog was only living on fruits. We also get requests by owners to feed dogs only vegetarian food."

Khanna pauses.

"I have over 450 pets here, and many administrative duties. I could do without people trying to pass off their dogs as strays just to avoid paying, those keeping pets just for show, and other namunas who give me a headache."