The Arunachala Animal Sanctuary & Rescue Shelter team is committed to the well-being of animals in their community in Southern India. They work to win over the animals’ hearts while healing their suffering. But in their day-to-day work, the team realized they needed to win over the hearts of the people within the community, too.
Observing the community’s interactions with homeless animals made it clear that to the Arunachala Animal Sanctuary & Rescue Shelter team needed to not only focus on their relationship with animals, but also on their community’s relationship with the animals they served.
The team began to share their work with the community more by encouraging visits to the shelter. Most importantly, they began to model animal nurturing behavior to people in the community. “To really uplift the quality of life of homeless dogs, perhaps the most important thing is to transform the relationship the furry ones have with the people amongst whom they live day in and day out,” shared the Arunachala Animal Sanctuary & Rescue Shelter team.
The Arunachala Animal Sanctuary & Rescue team continues to see positive results from modeling nurturing behavior and welcoming shelter visits. More community members are alerting them to animal abuse cases and the team is witnessing more kindness shown to the animals. The team told GlobalGiving about the amazing transformation:
“The community’s heart has so opened to the homeless ones. It’s visible in so many ways.”
Working with the community to achieve a compassionate environment for dogs continues to bring forth great results. Nishka Crishna, who visited the team’s work as a member of GlobalGiving’s Field Program, had this to say about the team’s work: “I was blown away by the founder’s vision, and the basic premise on which the organization runs—the power of demonstrative love. It is truly something that everyone at Arunachala believes in and practices every day. The impact of this is clear for the most cynical critic to see. Even the street dogs in Thiruvannamalai town, who have been neutered and put back, are clean and disease free, and wag their tails in a friendly manner when passing you on the street!”
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