A Crusader With A Heart of Gold!

She grew up watching her dad rescue and rehabilitate lepers, beggars and stray animals from the streets. Though he was a dermatologist by profession, he worked at a leprosy hospital that promoted therapy and service; so treating and rehabilitating helpless lives was routine and very often this little girl would join her dad on his rescue missions. Post marriage as she settled in Kochi, she continued her service of rescuing injured animals, teaching at orphanages and spending time with the physically challenged. But she noticed that there were very few organisations in Kochi that supported animal welfare especially that of stray dogs. In fact, slaughtering stray dogs was on the rise and she couldn’t bear to think of such mindless killing. She garnered support from her friends and likeminded people to help as many animals as she can. But when the Kerala floods happened in 2018, things went out of hand. People were abandoning animals as they left their homes. There were far too many animals to rescue, limited funds and support. Yet, she along with her friends teamed up to rescue over 50 animals. Once the animals were settled, they conducted three adoption drives through which 300 animals were adopted. She knew that this was her calling and she quit her career and her PhD degree to follow her heart. Read on to know more about this very compassionate and courageous lady behind the NGO, Oneness, Ashwini Prem.

- RIYA SONNY DATSON

During the floods, how did you rehabilitate abandoned animals?

It was a very difficult period but people across India helped us in our mission by providing funds and support. Dr.Prashanth Pillai from Kochi was kind enough to offer us a temporary shelter for the animals that were in distress. They were missing their home and family and it took us over a month to get them back to normal. It was after the floods that I realised the need to register as an organisation to get support from all quarters. That’s how Oneness was born! Five months post the floods, when we were sure that the rescued animals were ready for their new homes, we organised three adoption drives through which 300 animals were adopted. It turned out to be a huge success and all of them are settled in their new homes now. Oneness works for the welfare of animal, plant and human life. But we focus mainly on animal rescue and rehabilitation. We help raise funds for NGOs that work for human welfare.

What do you do with injured animals? We give them medical help along

with the necessary vaccinations. If they don’t need to be admitted in a hospital, they are shifted to foster homes where they are taken care of for a month or more; until someone adopts them or when they are fit to be released back into the environment. There are sometimes animals who are handicapped or partially paralysed, they are shifted to Thangam Memorial Trust at Tirupur, run by my friend Asha. She has around 500 rescued and handicapped dogs at her hospital and am really grateful to her for her help and support.

Do you have tie-ups with Veterinary teams and hospitals?