Animal Crusaders
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world!
- Anne Frank
Compassionate Crusaders Trust ►Annual Report 2013
“Think globally, act locally” has been the hallmark of our journey through activity as well as activism. Compassionate Crusaders have realized that if we do not care for our ecology and environment we'll ruin the only inhabitable planet.
In the words of our illustrious Patron, Mr. K.P.S. Menon, “The Crusaders continue their work of compassion. They do not look for reward or recognition. The act of saving hundreds of animals from starvation and injury is its own reward. In the presence of such selfless work one can only feel humble and also exalted. For a brief while we become greater than ourselves.”
This year too, like last few years, we have had no financial help from the Government, either central or state, nor related resources like “Local Area Development Fund” of the MP/MLA. By sheer improved financial management and optimum utilization of resources, yet again we have improved on our balance sheet without any financial liability.
Continuing on the positive trend of last three years, CCT has achieved a zero liability in this financial year 2012-13. Plainly speaking, no unpaid bills, whatsoever!
In addition we have put our allowable corpus as fixed deposit to sail through any rough weather so that the mutes in our care and their care-givers never feel the pinch of the happenings at large. All these are achieved by the dedicated and matured handling of the affairs by our wonderful young team.
Giving the dog a bone is not charity, but a contribution. Giving the dog a bone that you need as much as the dog does is charity” wrote Ms. Ruchi Kohli of Columbia, USA, a sentiment that captures the worldview of the Compassionate Crusaders.
Help has come, mostly, from the goodwill and support of the people of Calcutta, a city famous for its warmth and kindness. We salute Calcuttans for their attitude and awareness, and recognize the vital role they play in the success of our endeavours.
Most importantly, we have never compromised on the quality of our service to the poor suffering animals of our city and elsewhere, which is after all the very reason for our existence.
Most humbly we dedicate this achievement to the compassionate souls across the globe, who have been our supporters since Compassionate Crusaders started out on it’s journey in November 1993 with a corpus of only One Thousand Rupees.
This year the global economic meltdown has affected our donors too. The result, some of our significant and regular donors are conspicuous by their absence from our donors’ list. The ‘mutes’ in our care got some timely help from most humane and rare gesture of the young Australian couple Rochelle and Aniruddha from Perth, Western Australia. Rochelle-Aniruddha who got married in December 2012, had put a request on their wedding invitation card “If you wish to help us celebrate our wedding with a gift, a donation to an organization close to our hearts ‘Compassionate Crusaders Trust’ Kolkata, India www.animalcrusaders.org would be the most meaningful gift you could give us.”
A compassionate & generous gesture of Mr. Sukriti Chakraborty of Pune was also of significance.
Mrs. Parvati Bradley of California, USA, continues to be a genuine supporter for the mutes. As is Mr. Mohi Ranjan Halder, a fellow calcuttan.
We mention with gratitude, the kind gesture of the Hastings Chapel authorities for allowing us to park our Water Tanker for the animals round the year.
This year our Compassionate Crusaders’ Centre for Animal Welfare, popular as Tollygunge Clinic has had a complete makeover with additional facilities for treatment of the;mutes’ in cool comfort; thanks to the generous support from the compassionate couple, Mr. Subrato & Mrs. Subhra Ghosh. From the First of April we have enhanced the time and quality of treatment at our Clinic, a favorite of the caring animal lovers of our city
Karuna Kunj also has had a sparkling makeover this year, most significantly our staff there has been instrumental in implementation and maintenance of the upgraded facility.
We would also like to thank the generous family of Mr. Anwarul Islam and his compassionate wife Mrs. Majeda Islam, who made it possible for us to beautify garden-eden for pets, Karuna Kunj.
Karuna Kunj cattery has become a Feline Disney Land, thanks to Mrs. Majeda Islam’s compassionate son Mr. Areful Islam. His firm, The Calcutta Construction Company, has sponsored the extension of the Cattery. The Saturday Club’s kind donation of the play-things like Jungle Gym, Slide, Swing for the enjoyment of the cats have acted like the icing on the cake!
Karuna Kunj pet-burial continues to offer dignified farewell to the departed ‘mute members the family’. The ‘Memorial to Every Loving Pet’ stands in all its gracious serenity, with the touching poem that brings a lump to the animal lovers’ throat! Now a solar powered lamp post, courtesy Mr. Pradip Mitra, brightens the serene space.
Our fully colored annual newsletter, replacing the monochrome quarterly, is welcomed by one and all. Fortunately there have been sundry donations coming our way through the Annual Issue of our newsletter, Animal Crusaders.
I take this opportunity to offer some necessary clarification regarding our Report on Activity & Financial status.
Donors & Supporters- As it would be next to impossible to mention our innumerable donors in cash & kind., we mention donors of Rs.5000 & above, or regular donors of smaller amounts. As also those who help in raising and maintenance of infrastructure and facilities for the animals in our care. Other supporters mentioned include all well meaning individuals/groups/corporates who give us continuous logistic support and lend their expertise on the relevant issues in the course of our crusade for compassion.
Statement of Accounts - Some more clarification regarding our Statement of Accounts which reflects our financial activity. Statement of Accounts is prepared and duly audited, more in the format of the statutory requirement of the law of the land. At the first glance some expenditure may stare back at the beholder. As the ‘bills’ raised by essential services like telephone, electricity, fuel, vehicle repairs (mostly) have to be paid directly from the trust fund.
That apart there are varied expenditure which are directly settled by the donors, including food, medicines, infrastructure, maintenance which are never reflected in the ‘financial’ report. Whereas the assets created as well as fund saved by the ‘direct’ funders can not be reflected in the financial report either.
Transparency is our keyword, like previous years we are posting the financial and activity report on our website.
One major cause of our satisfaction is the progression of our campaigns both local and global, which were launched by CCT in 20 years of our existence. Before that period awareness about environment, animal rights, related human health issues were all quite vague and sporadic in our country. Now some of them have been accepted through legislation by our own country and even other civilized nations. Some more have reached the highest level of judiciary and the religious & community leaders. Above all the general public has started a ripple of compassion individually or institutionally.
Campaign against “cattle smuggling” is showing results of our 10 year long interaction, person to person, from the highest officer to the rank & file of the Border Security Force(BSF), the valiant protectors of the nation’s boundary.
Our international Anti-Fur campaign against animal skin products is gaining momentum. As is our campaign for anti-vivisection to curb unnecessary random dissection of live animals in school/college laboratories and cruelty-free beauty products.
Our Free the Tree campaign got a boost by The Supreme Court which has ruled last year that if a person habitually violates forest laws and fells precious trees, the state government concerned can brand him a goonda and take him into preventive custody to protect forest wealth.
In addition to the wild animals, ban on use of child artists in circuses have been one of CCT’s early campaigns. Last year the Supreme Court ordered and directed the government to raid circuses across the country to rescue the minors put up in squalid conditions and forced to perform dangerous stunts.
At the local level, two of our long standing activities are taken up in the ‘official’ agenda of the present state government.
One is a declared policy of “looking after” the free-roaming pariah dogs living on the streets of the city. It may be mentioned here that during our twelve year (1996-2008) stint of animal handling and control on behalf of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation; we have reconstructed and remodeled Dhapa Dog Pound the erstwhile “killing field” of the dogs, turning it into a mini hospice cum animal birth control & rabies control centre exclusively for our city’s free-roaming dogs.
The other is welfare of free-roaming ponies of the maidan area. Compassionate Crusaders have been looking after the maidan-ponies since 1996, with active support from the local Army & Police authorities; providing medicine, food & water.
CCT’s zoonotic concerns are getting real by the day. In the wake of three confirmed swine flu cases at the start of the year, the state health department has sounded a swine flu alert, In 2009, the city experienced a scare as 130 cases were confirmed. The following year, H1N1 struck again, with more than 30 confirmed cases.
Chinese scientists have for the first time identified chicken from live poultry markets as the source of an influenza virus that has infected people in China.The avian (bird) virus, H7N9, previously not known to infect humans, has caused disease in at least 108 patients since February among whom 22 have died, according to information reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
There are over 40 zoonotic diseases of which animals are carriers. The lives of millions of humans in developing countries can be improved substantially by preventing the source of the disease instead of spending several times more to cure the diseased people after they have been afflicted. Most of the people affected by zoonotic diseases are from the lower income groups. If the person affected is the bread earner, the whole family is ruined by the illness or death.
The regular pandemic of different zoonotic disease is a grim warning of the consequences of neglecting the importance of animal welfare. Philanthropists and social workers (including the medical fraternity) seldom realize that to help the health and economy of a society, it is vital to focus on preventive (rather than curative) health care.
30,000 people are reported to die of Rabies in India each year. These are reported deaths. Many more go unreported.. Other common zoonotic diseases are T.B., Anthrax, Diphtheria, Encephalitis, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Cholera, Plague, stomach ailments due to worms and many more.
Diseases spread through earth, water, food and air. Even the milk of a diseased cow has ill-effects. A baby born to an emaciated mother who has worms can be born with brain damage. Instead of spending countless millions, can’t we do some judicious planning to reduce the need for curing people; taking steps to keep them healthy instead?
Symbiotic crusade for compassion continues. Like previous years, a group of students from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune, Batch 2011-13, have worked with Compassionate Crusaders Trust. are from the Masters in Mass Communciation. Work Done include Documentary on Compassionate CrusadersTrust, Photography, Online Promotion through Facebook, Twitter, Google + etc, Articles for the newsletter, blog and Posters and publicity through FM radio.
Shri Ramakrishna’s prompting inspires us, “ ultimate awareness (chaitanya)” is of Shiv gyane Jeev seva i.e. to visualise the almighty in each of his creation upto the miniscule living creature and help & preserve them all!
Our campaign and fight against corruption continues. We are goaded by our Patron’s words of warning “Corruption is eating into the vitals of our country!”
CCT’s refusal to accept ‘leather mafia blood money’ as grants from AWBI, even returning the grant in 2008 is hailed by all right thinking people and our support base has grown ever since!
There are nefarious plans by overseas pharma lobby, to sabotage our nation’s public health initiative. This lobby and their local promoters remind one of George Eliot’s words “What a wretched lot of old shriveled creatures we shall be by-and-by. Never mind - the uglier we get in the eyes of others, the lovelier we shall be to each other.”
Even our Prime Minister has expressed his concern about such kinds being encouraged by their overseas contacts.
We believe in Gandhji words,”Even if you’re in a minority of one, truth is always the truth.” and in time to come the truth will prevail and justice will be handed down by the respective governments.
The media has been extremely supportive even though we could never offer them any thing other than our sincerity for the cause of compassion. As Mahatma Gandhi said, Mother Earth has enough for everybody’s need but there can never be enough for everybody’s greed! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the media personnel whose innate sensitivity and skillful pens and cameras voiced needs of the mutes and the Compassionate Crusaders’ endeavor in creating a kinder world.
91.9 Friends’ FM had aired a two part program on Compassionate Crusaders as ‘Manusher Golpo’. Ace RJ Nilanjana’s presentation interspersed with real life stories by crusaders, was very poignant.
The Hindustan Times’ daily publication of Compassionate Crusaders’ Animal Helpline is a real boon. As also The Telegraph‘s coverage of our emergency pet care in their Metro Guide. Many pets have benefited by this action of theirs.
Our association with RSPCA, U.K. continues.
“A man who won't die for something is not fit to live”, Martin Luther King, Jr. We deeply mourn the departure of our very dear and respected friends.
Ashis Bhattacharya (Sep 7, 1955 - Jun 1, 2012), fondly called Ashismama by the staff of Compassionate Crusaders, has been the longest serving volunteer. As a guardian cum motivator, he worked tirelessly for the residents, both humans & non-humans of Karuna Kunj. Through his effort since early germinating stage of Karuna Kunj, Ashis has almost single-handedly created the humane atmosphere of Karuna Kunj as a unique oasis for the destitute ‘mutes’, that we see now.
As a mark of respect to his fond memory, a friend’s family has facilitated in creating ASHIS BHATTACHARYA MEMORIAL FUND with the Compassionate Crusaders Trust, as a corpus fund to support our ‘care-givers of the mutes’ in their effort in initiating primary education/ further studies for their children. This will surely help in creating a new generation of compassionate citizens, a dream Ashis had nurtured!
This year we mourn the departure of our first Patron, Mr.Viren. J. Shah. Compassionate Crusaders Trust was fortunate indeed to have him as patron. He graced most of our programs along with his gracious wife Smt Anjanaben, to promote the cause of the mutes.The Council Chamber of the Governor’s Residence (Raj Bhavan) in Kolkata, was the room from which India was ruled, some 200 years ago. That was before Delhi became the capital of India. On Tuesday, 17th July 2001, Mr.Viren. J. Shah, Governor of West Bengal launched from this very chamber, our website www.animalcrusaders.org. The short, one-hour event was attended by both dignitaries and Media personnel. His Excellency spoke forcefully, with a depth of feeling. He appreciated the efforts of the trust and expounded upon the need for such activities to be encouraged. He was particularly impressed to hear of the article 51A (g) of the Indian constitution which states that "it is the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to protect and increase all natural resources like forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for all creatures." Common people take the cue from leaders and intellectuals. His Excellency has shown unwavering solidarity with the movement of animal welfare, recognizing its relevance to a healthy and prosperous society. Indeed, he has taken a keen interest in all areas of social welfare, and endeared himself to people from all walks of life and all strata's of society.
As we pray for eternal peace for this noble soul, I shall remember his email message of 22nd January this year, “Thank you for your good wishes for the New Year. We heartily reciprocate the same.”
Late Hemantika Puri is fondly remembered by everybody in Compassionate Crusaders Trust. She was our trustee for three years. Her first interaction with us dates back to 1995, when she had arranged for the most vital installation of a deep tube well at Karuna Kunj. That tube well not only served the animals in our care but it was also the only source of clean drinking water for the villagers living nearby for more than ten years. Apart from her most sincere zeal in helping any worthy cause, her benevolent nature was truly reflected in her personal interaction also. May her noble sole rest in peace.
Late Gopal Krishna Bhagat, the scion of Ceramics in India, fondly called the Pottery King was a staunch supporter of the mutes. We pray for his eternal peace for his noble soul.
The Animal lovers of Kolkata can boast as the only METRO CITY in the country to have a 24 Hour “ANIMAL HELPLINE” in two prominent dailies!
Our regular activity update, including pictures will be available at the facebook profile “Compassionate Crusaders Trust” with related Blogs and Youtube channel, “ANIMALCRUSADER” created and maintained by our E-team.
We will continue to post our yearlong activity details and audited accounts on our website and facebook.. Our website www.animalcrusaders.org displays the Videos of some of our activities… we hope to keep on adding more!
Debasis Chakrabarti
April 2013
Compassionate Crusaders’ Centre for Animal Welfare:
- OPD Record for the year 2012-13
- About 4000 sick animals, namely 2990 Dogs, 550 Cats, 200 Birds and 260 Other animals are given adequate relief and treatment at the out patient departmentof our Clinic & Karuna Kunj.
- About 4000 sick animals, namely 2990 Dogs, 550 Cats, 200 Birds and 260 Other animals are given adequate relief and treatment at the out patient departmentof our Clinic & Karuna Kunj.
- Animals Rescued in the year 2012-13
- About 600 distressed animals, namely 430 Dogs, 100 Cats, 30 Wildlife and 40 Other animals were rescued and then rehabilitated, released or sheltered as per the specific need of each animal.
- About 600 distressed animals, namely 430 Dogs, 100 Cats, 30 Wildlife and 40 Other animals were rescued and then rehabilitated, released or sheltered as per the specific need of each animal.
- Animal control is undertaken in high security and sensitive areas of both the Central and the State Government including Army, Police, Hospitals and also important national institutions. As advised by the authorities concerned, we are not publishing the locations for security reasons.
- Animals Buried at Karuna Kunj in the year 2012-13
- 259 pets have been buried with dignity
- 7 Memorial Plaques have been erected by caring pet-owners
FINANCIAL REPORT OF COMPASSIONATE CRUSADERS TRUST 2012-13
Final report pdf:
Click on image to download the PDF.
