MUMBAI: Your city does have a heart, after all. A delivery boy recently provided some food for thought in the alacrity with which he went out of his way to pick up an injured stray dog to get it to hospital.
Last week, Hasan Shaikh (32) was on duty, delivering food parcels for Zomato customers around Kurla when he happened to chance upon a stray dog, lying in deep distress. As the dog was visibly in pain and writhing on the road, Shaikh called up animal activist Vijay Mohanani of Bombay Animal Rights (BAR) to ask for an animal ambulance to get the stray canine to hospital.
“Since an animal ambulance was not immediately available, I asked Hasan if he could arrange for a private car or an autorickshaw in order to transport the dog to the animal hospital in Deonar,” said Mohanani.
And, he was pleasantly surprised to learnt that this Zomato delivery man picked up the injured dog and gently put him inside one of his food delivery bags. He then rode his motorcycle straight to Deonar where he reached the hospital within 20 minutes from Kurla.
“Shaikh did not even bother about the fact that he would be losing almost a day's wages by going out of his way to help an animal,” said Mohanani.
BAR has now appreciated Shaikh’s compassion towards animals by rewarding him Rs 1,500 in order to compensate for the loss of his day’s salary. When Zomato learned about why Shaikh had skipped the day’s work earlier, it gifted him a new helmet, a bag and a mobile phone stand to appreciate his gesture.
When TOI contacted Shaikh, he said: “It feels nice to see people praising you for your efforts. However, I have been feeding and helping animals since childhood.”
Recalling theincident about the injured dog from Kurla, he said that it seemed like either a vehicle had run over him or someone had hit him badly. “I just could not carry on with my regular work after seeing this dog. Unfortunately, he could not make it after being admitted to the animal hospital; but at least I tried.”
Shaikh, who lives in Mahul, Chembur, had taken up the job at the food delivery chain six months ago to support his family, said Mohanani “I first came in touch with him earlier this year when he had jumped into a gutter to rescue a dog. He is an energetic animal welfare person, and therefore BAR has appreciated his efforts,” said Mohanani.
When Shaikh was asked about the current scenario, where many animal feeders are being harassed by residents and animal haters, Shaikh said: “I feel that everyone in our society should live in harmony with a lot of ‘pyaar-mohabbat’ [love] for each other and also for animals. If you give just one biscuit to a dog, he or she will become your friend for life. So, let us all live together in harmony with animals.”
