Last year she and I rescued several hurt street baby dogs and we had the homeless momma dog vaccinated （接种疫苗） by a local animal rescue here in Mumbai, India where we live as foreigners. We have been meaning to go volunteer at the shelter ever since. I was recently feeling the push to serve more, so I scheduled a Saturday visit.
My daughter had social invites and was torn, but she also felt the push to visit the shelter so planned to go join her friends later in the day. We piled up old blankets, sheets and pillows to take along and donate. On arriving and touring we met 500 dogs and 200 cats being cared for at this shelter.
After the tour we served meals to the puppies in the sick/injured puppy ward. We held and comforted those who would clearly survive their injuries and several who were so sick that the volunteer vet on hand said they had a 50/50 chance of being alive next week. Then we led two sick, abandoned young kittens with an eyedropper.
While feeding the animals I watched the workers who were cleaning out some of the dog houses with healthy dogs who would be returned to the streets. I was so touched by how often they stopped in their duty to pet and play with these dogs. The many workers and volunteers are paid nothing to support these animals and they do it with such love.
My daughter and I stayed for 4-5 hours, beyond the time she had scheduled to meet friends for lunch. She chose to skip her social date and spend more time with these animals despite the tough conditions. Tired and dirty, we felt blessed to share some time with people who care deeply for relieving the suffering of so many vulnerable beings.
