- a colourful, detailed description, by Merry

Early morning

At 6 a.m. fieldworker Ann wakes and cooks fish to mix with leftover rice for 10 cats (one of whom has three kittens) and three dogs. I arrive about 8 a.m., bringing a few dog collars that I have made out of a plastic clothes line to mark the already rabies-vaccinated dogs. Ann's partner has gone to Madras to buy medicines wholesale, which is much less expensive. So she works alone today, except for me. She asks me to stay in her house and wait for her while she goes to the Auroville Health Centre to get some medicines which are kept for her there in the refrigerator. I am supposed to put a few drops of coconut oil in the ear of a cat with ear mites and play with the kittens - socialise them, Ann says, so a home can be found for them more easily. The ear mite cat has a paralysed hind leg with which he continually tries to scratch himself, so I help him, which quickly wins his trust. The treatment however is unsuccessful. The oil goes by mistake in a greasy overdose into the wrong ear. Kitty bolts, never to speak to me again. The kittens all have the cat flu, especially a little undersized one, who doesn't play much but cuddles up close to me like a sick child. Ann is giving the mother medicine and vitamins to benefit the kittens through her milk.

Programme of the day

About 9 o'clock she returns on 'Sunny', her rusty blue motor scooter. She tells me the day's plans: the main thing is that at 10 o'clock a car is coming to one of the villages to take a dog to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Pondicherry. The dog had to have his tail amputated due to a bad case of maggots, and now it is infected. In the later afternoon Ann's partner will be back and we will vaccinate some more dogs against rabies. After noon we will collect the big bucket of table scraps from the Solar Kitchen, about 5 kms away, and feed the homeless and undernourished dogs on the way back.

With dog and cat to the hospital

On our way to the village to meet with the car and pick up the dog, a Tamil man from the village stops us and tells Ann something in Tamil. She listens attentively, apparently horrified, and goes with him into his house. She returns carrying sadly a small bundle wrapped in soft rags. It is a cat with a Russian name that Ann has known for many years. She has been attacked and almost killed by a dog. I hold her in my arms, fortunately squeezed in tightly on the motor scooter behind Ann. After some more stops and delays we make connections with the car, the back seat lined with newspaper and an old blanket; load in the dog and the injured cat; and set out for the Veterinary Hospital. The tail looks awful, but the dog is very good. Ann thinks the cat might already be dead, but when she speaks to her by name, she turns her head slightly in Ann's direction.

Before being anaesthetised the dog is given an injection to make him vomit. We carry him outside. Later a dedicated vet and several veterinary students carry out the operation skilfully. The little cat, now moaning pitifully, cannot be saved. We bid her farewell and the vet gives her the final injection. I volunteer to bury her in a cashew field near my hut, since the ground is very hard near Ann's house.

Enthusiastic, skinny little brown and black mongrels..

By the time we get back to Auroville, it is long past lunchtime. We buy some fruit on the way and pick up the big bucket with the table scraps from the Solar Kitchen. On the return trip, after stopping at several spots to feed a bunch of enthusiastic, skinny little brown and black mongrels, we go the back way, on a rutted path, through the forest where there's a dog at a lonely house who needs some medicine. I wait at the scooter because this dog is very shy. Ann disappears into the cashew grove calling him by name. After a good ten minutes she returns, the dog following with tail wagging. She gently pries his mouth open and makes him swallow a pill. He squeals, but finally swallows it, and gets some food as reward.

Rabies injections

At about 4 p.m. we begin rounding up dogs in the village for rabies injections. This task is in a lighter vein, though with varying degrees of success. If possible we enlist the help of the owners. I go in front, coaxing the dog with a biscuit, the others sort of surround him to try to prevent escape, while Ann's partner, holding the needle ready, waits his chance and as soon as the dog is busy with his biscuit he sneaks up from behind, grabs him by the flanks, and before the dog knows what's up, the injection is finished. In fact it doesn't even seem to hurt. We end our day by rubbing some puppies in the Youth Camp in Fraternity (settlement in Auroville) with Neem oil and zinc oxide against mange and parasites. I just hold them tight between my knees so they can't escape. The dogs don't seem to mind this much, as long as we keep talking to them in a friendly manner. At about 7 p.m. we finish. Today we have treated or fed altogether 43 dogs and 18 cats.

Evening time..

Ann's day is not finished however. After a short break she will visit some villagers who are supposed to medicate their cow, and check if they are doing it. She will take the empty food buckets back to the Solar Kitchen and get the full one, normally an evening job, and she will check up on several sick dogs and see about reports of a rabies case. And when she suddenly finds herself too tired to go on, she will lie down somewhere, maybe even at home, and sleep soundly for a few hours until the sun rises. This is her life.

Contact: shivaya@auroville.org.in