Friday 7 December 2018

All that Pet's love


 A new year brings new dreams and new hopes for one and all. People who have pets also dream of getting solutions to many of their parenting problems. So this year the pet parents will be more than ever comforted when they learn about the enthusiastic duo team, who will help them through all their pet related chores from now on.
These two are from Mumbai, but would love to be of help to pet parents all over the pet world. They are two dedicated souls come together for this purpose as they both are equally passionate about this choice of career. Their names are Amit and Aisha. Amit is actually a professional photographer. He has learnt at the National institute of photography, Mumbai. He says, 'Though photography is my basic career and I still have to progress a lot in that sphere, my true calling in life I realized is to train animals and do a deep study of their behaviour patterns and I am pursuing further studies in exactly those steps. I feel strongly that aggressive animals can be taught to overcome their hostile attitudes, only with certain techniques which are coupled with deep love in the heart of the trainer."
He has always lived with animals. Hailing from the rustic outskirts of Mumbai he has rescued injured birds and puppies and then he also has his own Mahim apartment from where he continued his work by helping NGOs which work for the welfare of animals.
He once rescued a Kite from a lamppost whose wings were hurt and entangled in a wire up there. He climbed up and brought the kite down safely. Amit has done professional pet photography and trained a large number of different types of pets, but one startling fact is the way animals are drawn towards him and listen to him like a Guru.
He is a certified and practicing trainer and will soon be a behaviorist learning under Shirin Merchant (Who is considered to be holding the best behaviorist training in India).
 Amit has had six dogs of his own of which two are no more. But all of them except one are rescues. Three Indies, one husky female, one Pressa Caneiro and one Indie mix. While bringing up such varied breeds, he realized that a pet parent would love to get help in many ways so he hit upon this idea of training other dogs and this is how his journey started. Walking the dogs is an everyday affair and while on such walks there are cordialities exchanged by pet parents, along with talks about the difference in breed and upbringing is normal. Through such meets and pet parent groups he met Aishwarya and soon they realised they were walking the same path. Aishwarya, a NIFT graduate in accessories design has already worked in a pet company as well as other product companies. She has two lovely pets at home both adopted a Golden Retriever and a Labrador retriever. She says, " My love for dogs and other animals was gradual as it was inculcated in me by my parents who love animals too and my first memory was that I decided to stop bursting crackers as it's harmful for the environment and scares animals all due to the sensitization at home. I feel parents as well as schools should instill love for animals in the minds of school going children right from the beginning by giving guidance in the right direction. So that's also on my to do list ie 'Workshops to educate students against animal cruelty and towards compassion'. I also
understood a lot  about animals when we adopted our first pet dog who is a Golden Retriever. I felt that animals deserve a lot more importance in our human dominated world. I have seen mom's fussing over their kids and indulging them. Lucky for them all facilities and accessories are available for human kids but pets don't have it all good and rosy. It's sad that in spite of so many people opening pet shops and other facilities there is still a lacuna here. Pet parents need to be advised and helped all along. Many parents abandon their pets due to ignorance." Aishwarya too diverted her plans from being just another product designer to work towards focusing on designing products for animals. Moreover she being a sensitive girl feels touched when she sees pets being tied or hit by pet parents. She says they need counseling and she is also offering this service
 Aishwarya is also proud of having helped like-minded friends in rescue work and once searched for and found a lost Shelter dog.

 All said and done it's now a combined purpose to be accomplished as well as a profession for this couple to offer services in pet photography, basic and advanced behaviour training, pet products, counseling and a lot more.
It is not just to earn from the society that this overzealous couple has conceptualised this idea, it is also to give back to a largely less favoured section of our world.
                  by Supriya Bhonsle





Where no animal is “more” equal


In a very quiet serene private farm located in a very bustling Virar city area at the outskirts of Mumbai (Maharashtra), four retired canine soldiers were sent to spend their last few years. They were none other than the four canines that played a key role in the 26/11 terror attack operations in 2008, the dog squad, which helped the Mumbai police detect explosives and minimize casualties in the attack which killed more than 160 people and injured 300. After serving the Mumbai police for a decade, the four dogs namely Ceasar, Max, Tiger and Sultan retired in May 2015 and lived peacefully their last few years under the care of animal lover and activist Mrs Fizzah Shah at her Fizzah Farm.
Fizzah has the aura of a strong person, who has loved animals all along from the depth of her heart and whose objective in life is to take as many needy animals under her care.
Fizzah’s farm homes an ensemble of birds and animals, all of them rescued from various hard situations, but now at peace and far from harm. There are some 350 animals in her farm, all of which are diligently cared for, which include birds and marine life, all of which are rescued.
According to Fizzah, “I have many abandoned dogs under my care. They have emotions and are badly affected physchologically.. They can’t speak ,but express their turmoil through their eyes and behaviour. They have to be comforted and given time to adjust to new surroundings. At my farm  we  give them their freedom and love to heal their wounded spirits”
Though she can’t be at her farm all the while, she is in constant touch with her assistants and keeps discussing with them about the various items needed on the farm or about the upcoming activities to be organized on the farm. She sees to it that prompt medical aid is given to them if needed. She personally supervises and gives that loving touch to each and every animal at her farm with no discrimination. Every weekend she checks on them and attends to each of them. She has helping hands at her farm, who are also her family. They are the ones who tend to her farm in her absence. Whilst celebrating festivals at the farm, she makes it a point to give a break to her staff and she herself prances and enjoys with them all in tow. One day she got a call from an animal lover, saying that a bull was behaving strange in Dombivli area. She was asked to come and take a look. She picked up the bull from there as it needed medical attention at the earliest and brought it to her farm. As it was very difficult to handle and wouldn’t yield to any pressure, she named him Toofan. The doctor examined Toofan and he was better for a while. Later he ate as Fizzah fed him herself. But in a few days he expired. Many rescues came and stayed, some died, but none were sent away. Fizzah gives all her animals the best food, part of which is grown at her own farm. She has an organic vegetable farm too in this region. She personally works on this cultivated land and helps in the harvesting of the produce. The food thus prepared is very healthy and nutritious.
Back at home, in her Worli residence, she has homed 20 cats and 3 dogs and feeds the strays outside her home too. Her love for animals can be traced when she was a young girl, silently objecting to eating meat at home. She feels very firmly “I can’t eat my friends” and so she grew up getting closer to her animal friends as years passed.
Her good work is appreciated by many as she has helped too many people who needed help with rehabilitating rescued animals.
Fizzah Shah is a busy woman, juggling between her various responsibilities, to being in charge of a huge farm with so many farm animals. All said and done, she still does keep some 'time to stand and stare’.. this is a virtue which is rarely seen in today’s times.
Fizzah has never chosen her animals as all those under her care have come to her as refugees or as rescues. She says that she finds all of them to be lovely whether small or big, young or old, healthy or not.
She has space for her goats,  donkeys, cows, rabbits, and her dogs to run freely on her farm. She has welcomed with open arms birds rescued by others who are also now a part of her farm. She has a special place for all these not only on her farm, but also in her heart. In Fizzah’s opinion Animal communication is a very simple relation one develops with animals while loving them, feeding them and caring for them. They understand this language alone and communicate by licking, wagging tails or by simply jumping in happiness at seeing the person concerned, thereby acknowdegling that they love you and have faith in your love. The scene at Fizzah’s farm reflect her thoughts and  is a serene place where the flowers whisper tales of love. As one plans to leave this animal farm the heart and soul plead to stay on.  It’s a garden in likeness to, where ‘all animals are loved equally and no animal is more equal’. The tranquility is felt as soon as one enters until one departs and it’s just an everlasting feeling of happiness.
  by Supriya Bhonsle