THE BLUE CROSS OF INDIA. MADRAS.
OCT 2019
India’s leading animal welfare
organization now comes
straight to your inbox
OUR VISION
A world where every life form
FROM OUR FOUNDERS DESK
is equal making Animal
Welfare Organizations
55 years and counting...
redundant
Happy Diwali to all our patrons. The first issue of the Blue Cross
Newsletter was the April-June 1966 issue - over 53 years ago! As
the Editor of the newsletter and our quarterly magazine, The
HAPPENINGS
Animals’ Voice, I usually brought these out regularly with S.
Vijayalakshmi taking over for me from 1969 to 1974 after which I
BCI Launches Chandraayan
resumed and managed to bring out the Newsletter till 2010 at
which time we stopped since we just could not physically stuff and
WhatsApp Animals
mail the 5,000 odd envelopes every quarter.
Zoho comes to BCI
After a break of a few years, Mr. Mohanakannan, our GB member,
Gourmet from The Westin
brought out a few e-issues. With several full-time employees now
on board, especially Arpitha Rao, a seasoned journalist and now
Bunny goes to school
our communications manager, we hope to bring out this e-
World Rabies Day - Sep 28
newsletter on a regular basis.
World Animal Day - Oct 4
Our journey in the 55 years has had its ups and downs but we have
been expanding our services to the animals with whom we share
STORIES
this planet. We have rebuilt from the devastation of Cyclone
Vardah in 2016. The cat shelter is now a beautiful structure with its
Pup in a Quarry
own OT and recovery area, thanks to a generous donation from the
estate of Mr. Dady C. Dady; the quarantine has been reconstructed
The Guardian Angel
with the help of Rotary Magnum; the puppy shelter has been
Lily the Spitz
rebuilt by the Viswanathan & Arunachalam families and the OP
section rebuilt by Kritik Kendra.
Micky the Indie
The HCL Foundation not only did the entire wiring but added a
30 kw generator and this year, equipped our new kitchen block
OUR GUINDY SHELTER
donated by the Ravinders’ with steam cookers and an electric milk
boiler which makes it possible to do the entire cooking in just about
Call to schedule a visit to
two hours instead of the five hours it took earlier.
our shelter
This Diwali, I am happy to announce the relaunch of our newsletter
open 7 days a week
- vox vitale.. the voice of all things living.
+91 9884881355
1
THE BLUE CROSS OF INDIA. MADRAS.
OCT 2019
HAPPENINGS...
World Animal Day - Oct 4th
Celebrations were held on Gandhi Jayanti
aka Ahimsa Divas (October 2). A special puja
was conducted to pray for the welfare of all
animals and birds. Pet parents, new adopters
and animals from the shelter joined in the
BCI launches Chandrayaan
celebrations.
A pregnant cow was rushed to our facility after a speeding vehicle hit
her. Within hours, she delivered a healthy baby boy - he loves to zoom
around like a rocket and his mother has quite the tough time chasing
after him. So we named him Chandrayaan.
However, not as many
calves are as lucky as
Chandrayaan. They are
forcibly separated from
the mother after birth
and are sold to
butchers for meat,
while the mothers are
yet again brutally
imprgenated — only to
be milked and for her
baby to once again be
pried away from her.
Watch the video of the launch here: https://www.facebook.com/
bluecrossofindia/videos/2424252687692027/
World Rabies Day - Sep 28th
WhatsUp Animals
Anti rabies vaccines were offered at a discount by
BCI to encourage and create awareness.
In July your Blue Cross once again became the trendsetter it has
always been. In sync with the times and the needs, we launched
India’s first 24x7 WhatsApp ‘animal in distress’ helpline
(9962998886) making it a breeze to send a request rescue for
injured/unwell stray animals and birds.
All leadings papers including the Hindu and
Times Of India featured the news and
many animals in distress have greatly
benefited from this service as the
informers were able to reach the help desk
staff on time and request for rescue.
On average in a month, the WhatsApp line
receives 2,000-odd messages, of which over a
1000 are rescue requests.
2
THE BLUE CROSS OF INDIA. MADRAS.
OCT 2019
Zoho comes to BCI
Zoho Corp has been a long time supporter of the Blue Cross.
They have donated a license to use their software products for
running our day to day operations. The Zoho suite comes with
a variety of apps such as CRM, Writer, Sheets, SalesIQ (to
track website traffic), Social (to analyze social media), Cliq (for
internal chat) and so on.
Most of these applications are now a daily part of life at the
Blue Cross lending tremendous efficiencies in operations.
Using Zoho CRM, we have internally implemented a top notch
system called RCube - which stands for Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release -
from capturing details of the rescue calls till and finally the release the
status of every single animal/bird that comes into the shelter for
treatment.
This system has already started delivering efficiencies and transparency
in many areas and promises even more with expanded adoption. Thank
you Zoho.
Gourmet meals from The Westin
Our cattle and pigs are getting the five star treatment since early
September. We approached Ms.Vani, the HR director at The Westin. A
great ambassador of animals herself, she readily agreed and put in place
an impeccable process of segregating veg and fruit cuts and excess
bakery products of the
morning which are brought
over to the Blue Cross every
afternoon.
The colorful fruits and veggies are quite the rage in the
goshala and the bakes, breadsticks, sponge cakes and
donuts are a big hit in our pig sty.
Nearly 1400kg of highly nutritious food has been fed to
our animals in just under a month.
This program has
been so successful,
we plan to replicate
it with other hotels
in the vicinity- watch
this space. Thank
you Westin.
3
THE BLUE CROSS OF INDIA. MADRAS.
OCT 2019
Bunny goes to school
Give a man some fruit, you feed him for
a day, teach him to farm and you feed
him for a lifetime.
The difference between preaching
compassion and teaching it may just lie
in getting young minds to encounter
animals every day.
With the aim of helping children
understand and practice kindness
towards all things living, the Blue Cross
outreach to schools in Chennai was initiated last quarter.
The response was so overwhelming that one of the schools GKM Vidhyalaya went on to set up a mini
barnyard in the school and adopted 12 Rabbits and 12 Guinea Pigs. The program is now planned to
be rolled out to other schools as well. Thank you GKMV for supporting our vision of a future filled
with nothing but compassion.
RESCUE STORIES
Pup in a quarry
(watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/bluecrossofindia/videos/378952913006038/ )
This quarry located on the outskirts of Chennai, is filled with water and runs nearly 100-plus feet deep. It also
serves as a source of water for a couple of localities in the vicinity. We received a call that a puppy had fallen
into the quarry, yet survived the 60-foot drop from the top. When our team arrived at the scene, they learnt that
the puppy was stuck for
nearly seven days on top of
a pile of floating plastic
debris. Despite several
rescue attempts, no one had
succeeded.
Our rescuer rapelled down
with safety equipment and a
floatation device. When the
terrified pup jumped into
the water upon seeing him
the rescuer swam, following
it, and directed him to
safety after which the
villagers reunited him with
his mother.
4
THE BLUE CROSS OF INDIA. MADRAS.
OCT 2019
The Guardian Angel
(watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/bluecrossofindia/videos/466353667290039/ )
Inside a nearly 200-year-old well
in a temple in Chennai, people
could hear a kitten screaming for
help. When Blue Cross of India
reached the venue, it was raining
cats and dogs. Little did one
expect this phrase would actually
come true — when the rescuer
climbed into the well, he found
that an adult dog was standing
guard for the kitten!
No one knew that the dog had
fallen into the well too, and she was defending the feline with all her might. She kept growling at our
rescuer when he attempted to pick up the kitten.
We finally managed to bring both the animals to safety and were overwhelmed by the dog’s kindness
in protecting its little friend.
ADOPTION STORIES
Lily the Spitz
There is no worse cruelty than abandoning a beloved pet. Nearly every day,
Blue Cross of India receives calls from people wanting to “donate” their
pets to us. When we deny, some go to the extent of tying up their dogs/cats
to the gates of our shelter at night and disappearing.
One such dog, who was left to die outside BCI on the main road, was a 13-
year-old Spitz. Our team happened
to find her lying under the shade of a
tree; her fur was matted and dirty.
She was immediately rushed to the
quarantine section and we found out on closer examination
that she was completely blind, partially deaf and didn’t have
teeth.
Swift action and the help of volunteers led to finding this girl a
home within a week. Lily, as she is called now, is getting all the
love and care she deserves now and has a cozy bed to sleep on
too! Open your home and heart to abandoned pets and give
them a chance to live with dignity. ADOPT-DONT-SHOP.
5
THE BLUE CROSS OF INDIA. MADRAS.
OCT 2019
Micky the Indie
Meet Micky, an adorable Indie dog adopted from Blue Cross of India.
Dr. Saravana Rajan spotted this
fellow in the puppy pen of our shelter
one day, and decided to take him
home.
Today, Micky is a big boy and
probably the most pampered
member of his family! He loves to eat
chapati, ghee rice and drink milk,
considers his mom's hand his
favourite toy and enjoys being
chased around by his humans. "He’s
a gem... a little brother and a little
son. We love him to the core," is
what Micky's peeps have to say about
him. OPT-TO-ADOPT.
The number of ‘pedigree’ pets in Chennai alone is over four times the number of strays. Even if just
one in four pet owners chose to adopt a stray instead of ‘buying’ a pet there will not be a single stray
on the street left to fend for itself. To give a homeless and rescued puppy or kitten a safe and loving
home, please visit us on any day of the week between 9 am and 5 pm .
KEY LINKS
Donations: https://bluecrossofindia.org/donate-now/
Amazon Wishlist: http://amzn.in/bbWHWcK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluecrossofindia/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blue_cross_rescues/
WhatsApp Rescue Hotline: https://wa.me/919962998886
Donation Box Program: https://bluecrossofindia.org/donation-box/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-ormTG2Ir9Im8fjddQsYOg
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlueCross_
LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/company/blue-cross-of-india
KEY CONTACTS
General Manager : Vinod Kumar
Communications Manager : Arpitha Rao
vinod@bluecrossofindia.org
arpitha@bluecrossofindia.org
+91 9884881355
+91 8939391301
6