No country for animals

The Bombay Panjrapole, a shelter for ailing animals, is facing a volley of problems - a steep fall in donations, labour unrest and rising costs, to name a few

Adi Mograliya, who works at a 179-year-old infirmary for animals in Mumbai, has rather harsh views on humanity. His observations have been shaped by a struggle to find dedicated workers and donors over the past 15 years as secretary of the Bombay Panjrapole, primarily a shelter for cows. "Charity is dying. Even social service has become commercial now."

Panjrapoles, a common phenomenon in Gujarat, care for animals that are ailing or may have ended up at slaughter houses.

The Panjrapole is located in Bhuleshwar's CP Tank market, a network of gallies lined with old buildings. A short distance away from the Fort area, this portion of South Mumbai is dominated by temples and businesses run by the Jain, Gujarati and Marwari communities.
 

Several locals and shop-owners stop daily at the shelter to give in cash and kind or to feed the animals. Some bark orders for bowls of channa and swiftly toss them into the enclosure for pigeons. Those who have time, feed the cows gram laddoos or green grass. The facility sees 500-600 such visitors each day but these numbers were higher before. As the locality became overcrowded, some families relocated to the suburbs, leading to a fall in donations. "Rich businessmen who donated years ago return to check if their name is still being displayed as donors," says Mograliya. He adds, "But poor people have a bigger heart. They give beyond their means and ask you to take care of the cows."

The shelter was born in 1834 after the British Government issued a 'shoot at sight' order to curtail the menace of dogs and pigs, upsetting the Hindu and Parsi communities. Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, a Parsi philanthropist, and Motichand Amichand, a businessman, decided to bundle the animals to a plot of land at CP Tank. Cows were brought in to provide milk for the strays but over time, their numbers rose to 1,300 out of a total of 1,800 animals. The Parsi Trust that maintains the Panjrapole subsequently opened branches at Chembur, Raita, Walsind, Bhiwandi and Bhilad.

"People purchase chicken headed for the butchers for Rs 300 each and leave them here. We provide for them till they die," says a caretaker at Bhuleshwar, where about 350 animals including cows, rabbits, ducks, hens and parrots live. The cows have names, identification tags and family histories. Separate enclosures house the sick and pregnant cows.

While the Trust's income has declined, costs have been rising. To fund the upkeep of the shelters, founder Jeejeebhoy had constructed around 15 buildings and accommodated shops and tenants. Inflation and the Rent Control Act turned these assets into liabilities over the years, the Trust says, leading it to sell part of its land. Expenses include those of labour, transportation of grass from its farms and garbage pick-up services. The Trust has reportedly been running into losses of Rs 35 lakh a year for the past few years.

Labour unrest is another issue. Most of the 150 workers and 200 seasonal workers at its six branches come from Satna or Mathura and earn between Rs 6,500 and Rs 7,000 a month. "We consider caring for cows a religious duty. But rising costs are making it to difficult to survive on this salary," says a worker, before enquiring about the availability of jobs outside. For three days in December, the labourers struck work, demanding loans of Rs 2 lakh for events like marriages. However, the Trust said it could not afford to pay advances and the workers eventually returned to their jobs. "Companies or traders would have dismissed the workers but I cannot afford a lockout because the animals should not suffer," says Mograliya.

About 650 litres of milk from around 150 milch cows are supplied by milkmen to prominent areas in South Mumbai, including Napean Sea Road, Cuffe Parade and Altamount Road. The Trust was criticised for doing business from the shelter but Mograliya says milk is a by-product and the money from sales is used for maintenance.

Inside the Panjrapole building, the atmosphere is calm, the noise of vehicles and trade outside replaced by lazy moos and chirps. For local tour organisers, this quaint part of town is a routine stop. "Tourists are delighted to see so many cows in the heart of a city," says Shailesh Jethva of Mystical Mumbai. While the juxtaposition is fascinating to outsiders, for the animals it means a lack of open space in the roughly one-acre expanse. They walk about, the enclosures, chew the cud and occasionally sniff at journalists' notes.

The problems even prompted the Trust to consider closing the Bhuleshwar centre, says Mograliya. "But South Mumbai is the hub because it gets maximum visitors," says a Trust official. The centre also attracts maximum donations. Commerce is indeed hard to separate from social service.