By Sandeep Reddy

From someone who never noticed animals to becoming a COO with IAF, India’s first backbone organisation for animal welfare, it’s proof that compassion and dedication can shake one up and get them to act. 

My animal adventure kicked off when I met my wife at 28. She brought two cute Indie dogs into my life, and, honestly, I never really cared much about animals before that. The bond I developed with them was the sole reason for my perspective to shift. Unexpectedly, the mutts roaming the streets began to give off a family vibe. I began noticing them and understanding their plight living on the streets. 

One day, I came across a street dog who was hit by a vehicle. Long story short, that became my first rescue, and it felt awesome. I started doing more of that – rescuing and releasing them back into their localities, and watching their tails wag vigorously when they saw their friends again gave me immense satisfaction. With time, I realised that the odd rescue wasn’t enough; there were so many unsterilised community animals around me, and their uncontrolled population growth meant that the cycle of suffering would continue for generations. That’s how I got into working on animal birth control (ABC). I started taking them myself, as the local authorities were not effective enough in catching them. I figured taking them myself was the only way, but even doing that once a week, with five or six dogs, sometimes even eight, wasn’t enough. So, I got a vehicle, a driver, and a volunteer coordinator who coordinated with local feeders to identify dogs that needed ABC.  We took dogs 3-4 days a week to the ABC centre and released them after sterilisation. We did about 3,000 like that over a period of 5-years, all while I still had my day job as a country head of an MNC IT company.