On Saturday night (7th December) Ritika (M- 8287490067) as usual went to feed the dogs in the Jama Mazjid area in Old Delhi but to her astonishment she couldn't find two 7 month old siblings. They were both missing.
Ritika looked for them everywhere and then the next morning went to the nearest sterilization centre to check if the dogs had been picked up by the municipal.corporation for sterilization but she just couldn't find them.
Just few days back she had a fight with a local resident Sonu who had objected to her feeding the dogs.
This is nothing new for Ritika who feeds a minimum of 40 dogs daily. She is a resident of Sitaram Bazar but she feeds dogs in all adjacent areas once at night everyday. She leaves her home around 6 PM and returns home not before 9 PM. She feeds them on all days. No holiday for Ritika She is quite famous in her locality now. Getting into quarrels with dog haters and being humiliated and abused by them for feeding the dogs is nothing new for her.
The last altercation which she had for feeding the dogs was with Sonu.
Hence, she was quite confident that it was Sonu who had removed the dogs from their area. Her suspicion turned into reality when it was confirmed by an eyewitness. The eyewitness told her that he had seen the dogs being taken away by Sonu in a rickshaw on Saturday night.
According to animal laws in India a stray dog cannot be removed from its place of birth and anybody indulging in removing or dislocating them shall be punished.
Ritika went to the Jama Mazjid police station and tried to lodge a complaint against Sonu for removing the dogs. But the police neither took her seriously nor wrote her complaint.
In India very few animal lovers have the guts and the courage to go to the police station to lodge a complaint for any injustice been done to an animal. And the ones who choose to go often face the same negative attitude which Ritika was facing.
In such situations people in Delhi either call PFA ( People for Animals) NGO which works for animal rights and helps animal lovers in their hour of distress or call Ambika Shukla. Ms. Shukla is the Director of SGACC (Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre) which is one of the biggest animal care centres in India. She has devoted her whole life in the service of these voiceless and helpless souls.
Without wasting time Ritika called up Ms. Shukla and briefed her about the whole situation. Ms. Shukla immediately spoke to the police at Jama Mazjid and told him about the animal protection laws and that they better do their duty and take action against Sonu.
Instantly the police went with Ritika to Sonu's house and threatened him with legal consequences if the dogs were not found.
This was enough for Sonu to bring him to his senses and on Monday morning ( 9th December) a resident of tha area called up Ritika to tell her that the two siblings are back and are hail and hearty.
The news was true and Ritika was overjoyed to see the dogs back home
Had Ritika not intervened and gathered courage to go to the police station the two dogs would have died of starvation and cold weather in an unknown place in Delhi.
Hats off to caregivers like Ritika who care more for the safety of their four legged friends than their own safety.