Tamil Nadu woman cares for over 150 abandoned animals

Sunitha Christy, a woman of Kumarapuram village in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district has become a patron for many abandoned animals. There are over 150 animals currently residing at Sunitha's shelter and she is so much attached to them.

Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu): A woman of Kumarapuram village in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district has become a mother of hundreds of abandoned animals and build a shelter dedicated to caring for those animals.

Sunitha Christy started her mission of taking care of abandoned animals and rehabilitating them in her home 15 years ago.

There are over 150 animals currently residing at the shelter including, dogs, cats, buffaloes, donkeys, turkeys, monkeys, donkeys and including a variety of birds. Sunitha is so much attached to them that she has a name for each of her inmate and everyone is addressed with respect.

On what can be done to improve existing mindsets, Sunitha strongly believes that there need to be more awareness programmes, especially for children, because they turn out to be more compassionate after coming in contact with animals.

Speaking to ETV Bharat reporter, Sunitha said," I have always dreamed of building a shelter for animals. There are around 150 animals in my custody. Most of them are injured in accidents or the ones condemned to butcher shops which are then rescued through court through my complaints. This kind of initiative runs because of public support because sustaining these animal single-handedly is not possible."

"During this time of corona, many are abandoning their pets believing that they transmit the disease. Many don't even inform us and simply abandon their animals. Corona does not spread from animals but from humans. Please don't abandon the animals because they are badly affected when people abandon them all on a sudden," she said.

"My work is known in this region and people are extending help. Even those who could not take care of the cattle themself are coming forward to assist with money and material. Social media come in handy for this. I am thankful to them. For without the help from the public, it would be difficult to carry on this service,”

Despite initial hesitation from family and friends, Sunitha put her love for animals above everything else. Having taken the Biblical dictum of ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ to cover the animal world as well, Sunitha remains an inspiration and a living example of our Indian way of ‘Jeevakaarunya’.