Rashmi Rekha Das, OP
Tapan Mohanty’s sole ambition in life is to work for the wellbeing of mute creatures who are subjected to ill-treatment and torture
Tapan Mohanty, a civil engineer by profession, has pursued his love for his quadruped friends by venturing into unchartered territories. He is a household name when it comes to animal rescue work, dogs and cats in particular, in Bhubaneswar. Any time someone sees an injured dog, especially a stray, he is called to look after the animal. The 25-year-old has done this so many times that his number has become a hotline when it comes to the rescue of sick and dying strays. However, he works with several others to rescue stray dogs writhing in pain. After the animals are healed, they are either re-homed or released. In a conversation with Orissa POST, Tapan talks about how he derives inspiration and motivation to look after the four-legged creatures and how their undying rapport with his masters has inspired him.
The path towards a safer living atmosphere for these godly creatures, however, has not been easy, with Tapan having to face barriers in the form of continuous protests from his family in the initial period. With great resolve and an undying spirit, he has managed to shove all the negativity away and make sure that his love for what he does never dies.
Born to civil engineer Anirudh and homemaker Annapurna Mohanty, Tapan recounted how it all began. “I love all sorts of animals since my childhood. For dogs I have great concern. I cannot see them writhing in pain. In 2015, I rescued a dog from gruelling pain after meeting with a road mishap at Fire Station Square. I took him to my place despite my parents’ opposition and took care of him for a week. In the process, I developed a strong rapport with the animal. And I adopted him. To hone my passion, I joined People for Animal run by Maneka Gandhi. I left the organisation with five others due to some reasons and founded an organisation in November, 2015. We got a shelter house on rent at Patrapada on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar where as many as 50 dogs and 10 cats are being housed separately. So far, I have rescued 350 dogs, lying on roads after being hit by vehicles and suffering from maggot infestations,” he said.
How does he raise funds for the upbringing of the sweet and faithful animals? “All the 12 active members are jobholders. So we contribute to the wellbeing of dogs and cats. Besides, we raise funds through social networking,” he replied.
“What makes me feel bad is people abandon their pet dogs when they become old. But it’s not easy for the godly creatures to ditch their owners and forget them. I would like to narrate two instances in this regard. A man left his pet, Jenni, at our shelter house due to its old age. Since the day his owner ditched him, he stopped taking food. After repeated requests to pay visit to the pet, his owner finally came to visit him. He was so happy on that day and took his meal happily. When his owner left, his situation went back to square one. We started administering saline everyday for his longevity. However, he died two months after his arrival to my shelter house.
“In another incident, a Muslim couple left for Hajj, Mecca, leaving their pet dog with us. They had promised to come back in three months and take their pet with them. Though a year elapsed, they did not come or even respond to our phone calls. Finally, we had to visit their house but they just declined to take the pet back. This animal had to face the same fate. He subsequently fell ill and died after missing his owner. Such is the compassion we have for our pets,” he said.
“The number of stray dogs is increasing day by day. But people never treat them with compassion. They develop hatred towards them which is why people don’t care while running over them while driving. And mass sterilization is the need of the hour. To sterilize the maximum number of dogs in an area, we make contacts with street dwellers and slum dwellers and persuade them to have their dogs neutered by us. We encourage the public to get involved in the programme,” he said.
The animal activist is strongly against puppy mills. “Puppy mills are large-scale commercial dog breeding operations where profit is placed above the well-being of animals. Bred without consideration of genetic quality, this produces generations of dogs with unchecked hereditary defects. In some puppy mills, puppies are sold to pet shops and marketed as young as eight weeks of age. The lineage records of puppy mill dogs are often falsified, and puppy mill dogs are often plagued with health problems.”
Apart from opening water kiosks for animals during summer, Tapan also conducts the awareness programme, Feed a Stray, to create compassion for animals in the hearts of people.
