“Every time I step out of my house in Race Course, a pack of eight dogs follow me. I love to feed them and spend time with them. It is, in fact, the best time of my day,” says Megha Jose. This 25-year-old from the city is the founder of The Pawsome People Project, an NGO that works for the welfare of street dogs.
When Megha moved to Coimbatore from Bengaluru to join her family business, she decided she would do something about her dream of helping street dogs and met Mini Vasudevan of Humane Animal Society (HAS). “From her, I understood the challenges in embarking on such a project. I started an Instagram page and invited volunteers. Around 30 people signed up in the very first week.” Most were young professionals and college students.
The team has grown in number over the past three months. “Now there are 150 volunteers. I also have a core team of six that manages the social media,” she says. They were trained by experts from HAS on how to handle the dogs. “We work on Sundays where we take the street dogs to the HAS Clinic for sterilisation. We have now done the procedure on 40 dogs. Once they have recovered from surgery, we take them back to the same locality,” she says.
The team also educates people on the importance of adoption and sterilisation. The Pawsome People’s Project receives donations through crowdfunding.
“So far the contributions have been from people we know. We are looking for more funding to help us with our future projects,” says Megha. The team constructed 10 dog shelters recently. “We nailed the wooden planks together to make kennels. These will soon be kept in front of the houses of our volunteers across the city. Each shelter will be able to accommodate three dogs.”
The Pawsome People Project plans to conduct a dog festival in February. “It will have a fashion show for dogs, free vet consultation, awareness talks and performances from budding artistes from the city,” she says.
To volunteer or make donations, visit their www.pawsomepeople.org or the Instagram handle @pawsomepeople or call 7259524005.
