Animal Rights Fund (ARF) was started on April 5, 1999 by Mr. Dilip Bafna founder and Managing Trustee of ARF saw the most gory and brutal manner in which the street dogs were electrocuted at Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) dog pound at Koramangala managed by CUPA. With co-operation from CUPA and others he videographed the electrocutions and sent the same to Ms. Maneka Gandhi, Honorable Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, who came to Bangalore and met with the Corporation officials to put an end this killing.
In May 1999 a few enterprising BMP officials and subsequently the new Commissioner Mr. Jairaj, who is passionately committed to the well-being of public, woke up to the reality and saw the logical new dimension solution to the problem which was all along known to them. With his dynamism and vision, he revived the WHO/WSPA recommendations and Animal Birth Control (ABC) / Anti Rabies Vaccination (ARV) started in full steam.
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RECENT PAST |
ARF has done more than 3200 ABC/ARVs (sterilizations/vaccinations) till date.
Presently we are doing 500 ABC/ARVs per month as per the directive of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.
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OUR WORK |
ARF is pure private
initiative in action. We did not wait for government land or money to start
work. We took a farmhouse on rent, with private funding. But, we now earnestly
look forward to support from BMP/Government to help the public tackle this issue.
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OUR COMMITMENT TO WORK |
We have worked under severe constraints regarding infrastructure. In the new abandoned farmhouse which we took on lease cum rent:
There was no flooring in many places so we got the flooring done there.
There was no water and power (we got the power and purchased water by tankers).
Earlier we used to tie the dogs to the floor, but now we are getting kennels fabricated.
There were many cracks in the building, which we repaired.
There was no toilet. We got one constructed.
We have got the entire place renovated and hospitable for Animals purely on private funding.
We have had to rely on expensive mobile phone as means of contact since we do not have a land line at our center.
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OUR RESOLVE |
Even though we have had very little support from the BMP in the past, we have managed to keep our commitment to BMP on doing ABC/ARVs and thereby help the public by bringing about scientific reduction in stray dog population.
Right now we are working under the following constraints:
We have no Telephone line as it is taking a long time to come, hence, we are using mobile phones.
As BMP/Animal Husbandry Dept. has not given unused veterinary hospitals/place to do the ABC/ARVs work, we have taken a place on lease cum rent.
We are creating awareness among BMP local officers so that they understand why we are doing this work in this particular manner. We have till now managed without much funds from BMP/Govt. But, time has come now where will not be able to manage without financial/infrastructure support.
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OUR FUTURE |
We intend to do 500 ABC/ARVs depending on fund inflow.
Our goal is to make Bangalore Rabies free by year 2005.
We intend to promote Veganism as an ideal way of life.
Our mission is to spread awareness among public to live harmoniously in nature with plants and animal.