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Delhi's popular animal shelter Friendicoes faces cash crunch
Friendicoes Society for Eradication of Cruelty to Animals (SECA) has launched an online campaign asking animal lovers to keep it afloat, after the 36-year-old NGO faced closure because of financial crisis.
Friendicoes has been sheltering abandoned animals and running vaccination drives for stray dogs in Delhi for years. But now, faced with a crippling funds crunch, this NGO is crying out for help.
Friendicoes Society for Eradication of Cruelty to Animals (SECA) has launched an online campaign asking animal lovers to keep it afloat, after the 36-year-old NGO faced closure because of financial crisis.
"We simply refuse to allow that to happen for the sake of the thousands of animals who would be left helpless and dying on the streets of Delhi for the lack of a place to recuperate and shelter," a statement from the NGO said.
The NGO has to raise at least Rs 20 lakh within a month to pay off part of its dues, and so far people have thronged to a crowd-funding website to raise more than Rs 9 lakh in just a single day.
Friendicoes has a total outstanding bill of Rs 82 lakh, while the Municipal Corporation of Delhi owes it Rs 30 lakh for conducting spay/neuter programs, said a post on its official Facebook page.
Apart from the shelter in Defence Colony, Friendcoes has another permanent shelter in Gurgaon and has more than 2,000 animals under its care. It also runs an OPD clinic, two animal birth control centres in East and West Delhi and two hospitals in Ghazipur.
As the crisis escalated, the NGO's night ambulance was the first casualty. It was discontinued last week. "It's an accepted rule that we have to pick up every animal they call us for," Geeta Seshamani, vice-president and co-founder told a news website.
The crisis for this animal help organisation has come at a time the National Human Rights Council asked the Delhi government to debate on animal rights vs human rights.
Will animal lovers manage to
to save an NGO that is "not just a shelter"? If not, Delhi will lose an institution which has become a way of life for many.
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