These 2 Mumbaikars are feeding stray dogs in Mira Road for the last 2 years!

Abhilash Muralidharan Nair and Gurminder Kaur Chadda are Mumbaikars who have been feeding stray dogs in Mira Road together. They had also vaccinated 60 dogs last year and even built a shelter for 30+ cows in Mira Road.

4 years ago when Gurminder Kaur Chadda used to live in Kalina, she started cooking food for the stray dogs out of her love for them. She started with 7 doggos, but then the number increased to 60. Right before the lockdown, she was cooking 10 Kgs of rice and 3 Kgs of chicken for 220 dogs in Mira Road. Meanwhile, Abhilash shifted to a nearby building in her area, and he got inspired by Gurminder's efforts and joined her in this cause. Since then these 2 Mumbaikars have been feeding stray dogs

" I have always been an animal lover. I used to live in Goregaon earlier and was pretty active in helping there too. People would reach out to me for animal care, and aid. Later I shifted to Mira Road and saw Minni (Gurminder) feeding the stray dogs. It really touched me and then I joined her.", said Abhilash.

The duo feeds 180 to 200 stray dogs in the night mostly after 12 a.m. until 2 or 3 a.m. every day. " We try our best to not skip even a single day. If it's raining heavily we find them under the shelter and give them the food. No matter how late does it get we go out at least once.", he added. They also help people looking for a vet, pups who are run over by speeding vehicles, animals injured in a fight, or shelter or anything. They have even built a tarp house for the doggos.

Gurminder works as a Systems Administrator at TCS, while Abhilash is Senior Designer Manager at Anarock Creative Agency. Despite their busy schedule, they have been pouring their love for animals by helping them. During #CycloneTauktae they got a call regarding cows at a dairy farm getting soaked as the shed had torn due to heavy rain. After quite a struggle they were able to build a temporary shelter for them. " We were not finding any help. Though many people had called us, only 2, 3 from them had actually came out for help. There were 10- 12 calves and 13 to 20 cows in total. We tried our best and by 11.30 p.m. , we built a shelter for them.", he said.

Abhilash and Gurminder get such SOS calls at all times. The duo has together rescued, treated, and helped adopt hundreds of indigenous doggos. Recalling one of the happiest and saddest incidents for them, Abhilash said, " It was 14th February, and we were returning from a trip. I saw this small puppy running in the middle of the road. He was adorable, I took him with me and decided to adopt him. I had even planned on calling him 'Love", but then he started shouting. We took him to the hospital and found that the puppy was suffering from Distemper ( a viral disease that affects a wide variety of mammals). We tried our best, but after 4 days love died. I am never going to forget it."

Losing a fur buddy is tough, and so if you want them to stay healthy and sound, help Abhilash and Gurminder.

Both of these animal lovers have put their savings into feeding stray dogs. Help them feed more starving stomachs by donating on 9930223279. 

Also Read: Ranjeet Nath aka the Dog Man of Nagpur is feeding stray dogs for more than a decade!

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