In the midst of the haze (or is that smog?) that is India’s 250 lakh-strong unsolved problem of street dogs, a Jodhpur-based entrepreneur found a brilliant solution to help the poor pooches that become victims of street accidents every day and lose their motor functions. Hritesh Lohiya found one such victim outside his factory earlier this year and inspiration struck.
He created a strap-on trolley for the paralysed dog, and that too with re-purposed waste material (an old military box and the wheels of a water cooler) from his garbage recycling factory! While there are products such as wheelchairs and braces available for paralysed pets, these are usually expensive and hard to obtain. Lohiya recognised this need and fulfilled it through his venture that provided a chance at walking not only to this one dog but 200 of them, by creating more such wagon-like contraptions as gifts to local animal welfare societies.
Together with his own garbage recycling factory (Priti International), one of his many entrepreneurial endeavours, which re-purposes waste into daily-use items such as handbags and trousers, he crafts these handicap-aids on a large scale. He has taken it upon himself to undo, with his ‘hot wheels,’ at least a little of the damage done by the callous mix of public indifference and government inaction that is characteristic of far too many Indian metropolitans.
Street dogs in India are often malnourished, and have a hard time surviving the winter, with no way to fend for themselves. In case of a handicap, whether a birth defect or the result of an accident, they have an even more difficult life.
Image Courtesy- Dhravasana
He commented on the deplorable condition of Indian roads, unsafe for man and animal alike, saying,
There is [a] lot of traffic, both heavy and small vehicles. These vehicles drive so roughly that not just the animals [but] even we have to be very careful while crossing the road. This particular dog was hit by a three-wheeler, which paralysed him.
Stories like this warm the heart, as there are very few individuals out there making a productive difference to society, especially for street dogs, whose current condition is abysmal. With the 2001 Animal Birth Control Program aimed to sterilise street dogs to control their population instead of killing them, however, an upward trend has begun, and people like Hritesh Lohiya actively contribute to this positive change in society.
It’s wonderful to see that people care, and their work is reinstating our hope in humanity, showing a glimmer of hope for the otherwise helpless dogs.
