CRISES
The COVID 19 pandemic shook all of us alike, emotionally, physically, and financially.
It brought added responsibilities for people and organizations engaged in helping animals. First, the lockdown pushed people out of the streets and into their homes, leaving the street animals unable to fend for themselves. Then, people began to abandon their pets in the fear of contracting the virus from them, and already overcrowded-animal rescue shelters were entrusted with the responsibility of giving these animals a home when their own people had betrayed them. And finally, the economy suddenly crashed, and people lost their jobs. This impacted the donations animal welfare organizations were receiving and the going got tougher.
Together in Adversity
And although Sarvoham was already almost on the edge, we knew we had no other option but to step up! We continued to run the shelter and to take care of the incredible dogs who live with us. We continued our rescue and treatment operations, no matter what. And yet, the sight of hungry street animals on the deserted roads of Bangalore was unbearable! So, we realized that what we were doing was not enough and began to feed street animals. But we had decided that we are a small organization with limited resources, and we could only feed animals who had absolutely no other source of food. So, we began with feeding 10 and then 20 and without even realizing it, we were feeding more than 600 street animals per day! The sight of these animals waiting for us every day and wagging their tails with gratitude after their tummies were full was something we would cherish for times to come!
But we were not alone in this journey. The Infosys Foundation (who is also our guardian angel through their CSR initiative) helped us continue our work and provided us with the necessary resources we needed for this feat. On our daily trips to feed the animals on streets, we also witnessed many distressed people who were facing hardships due to the lockdown. The Infosys Foundation came to their help as well and provided us with rice and dal packets to be distributed among such people. We visited as many slums as time and resources allowed and made every possible effort to make life easier for our disadvantaged companions, both human and nonhuman!
Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.
– Bob Riley
