Tag: floods

In the devastating floods that hit Kerala on August 24, 2018, over 483 people died and almost a dozen people went missing. As saving human lives was a priority in the early days of the disaster, the pets were left behind in the flood-affected areas. There were several unsung heroes who battled rising water and arrived on boats to rescue the stranded animals. But what is interesting to note is that not a single stray dog lost its life in Chengannur in Alappuzha district, which was the most affected by the calamity. Post floods, the State Government came out with statistics that 8, 000 cattle, which included calves and buffaloes, 3, 297 goats and 47 dogs had died in the 2018 floods.

As per the State Animal Husbandry Department, each district has a cattle population between 75, 000 – 1 lakh. With landslides occurring in Kannur, Idukki and Wayanad districts and severe floods in Thrissur, more than 50 percent of the cattle and livestock were washed away with its carcasses floating around. Sajan Chacko, a 48-year-old textile businessman, a diehard animal lover and a rescuer, told Buddy Life that he had lost track on the number of stray and pet dogs, cattle and livestock he saved during the recent floods. “Fortunately, not a single stray dog died in Chengannur. They were adept at moving to a safer zone whenever the water levels rose alarmingly. It was the pet dogs, which met with a sad end as most of them were tied to their kennels leaving them disillusioned and stranded”, said Chacko, who went around the Alappuzha district in his Willys Jeep, which is water mountable

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Initially, Chacko and his team saved hundreds of pet dogs in and around Chengannur. But he realised that things were not going to be easy as the flood water level was rising dangerously in Arattupuzha in the Muthukulam village of Alappuzha district by eight feet. This would result in Ranni town submerging in the flood as the shutters to the Pamba dam were opened. This led Chacko to head to the rural areas of Chengannur to save the stranded animals there. He recalled that many of the stray and pet dogs were famished as they had not had any food for five to six days at a stretch making them really weak and tired. Armed with hundreds of biscuit packets provided by good Samaritans across the country through relief camps in his four-wheel drive, Chacko saved the pet dogs and cats. Without any qualms of getting into the vehicle, they looked upon him as a ‘messiah’. Until then, it was the stray dogs in the Alappuzha district who knew their master. But now, the pet dogs and cats realised that Chacko was definitely a ‘godsend’. He still shudders when he thinks of the hundreds of pet dogs who were stranded on the terraces of several houses without food or care of their masters. “Even to this day, I feel so helpless thinking about the fate of a dachshund in Pandanad in Alappuzha. It was taken inside a luxury car of its master only to be washed away. A group of rescuers in a Taurus lorry managed to save the man in the nick of the time. But the hapless dog was washed away. The owner wanted to protect its pet and at the end, he couldn’t”, added Chacko, who nursed back a maggot infested Lhaso Apso, Scooby, from the streets five years ago which has since been his pet dog.