Most of the animals we treat are released back into the neighborhoods where they came from.

But for those who cannot live independent lives because of physical handicaps, Animal Aid becomes their permanent home.

The most typical two problems we face are
-dogs whose backs were injured or broken, resulting in paralysis of their hind legs
-donkeys who have been permanently disabled due to overloading their backs, overworking
 and having their legs tied together preventing natural movement and often severing
 tendons.

These animals become beloved family members and as weeks, months or years go by, their personalities and special gifts and needs become etched into the daily routines of all the staff and volunteers.

You can’t take one home...
But you and your loved one(s) can be together in spirit.

Each animal who lives in Animal Aid needs someone to express love and compassion by helping Animal Aid provide their food, their medicines, and enable staff to spend quality time with them as part of our daily routine.

Sponsoring one dog for one month is $25.
Sponsoring one donkey for one month is $50.

Please consider choosing one of the animals below, or giving toward general sponsorship.
Just send us the name of the animal you would like to sponsor, (info@animalaidunlimited.com) and use the PayPal option through the Donate Now tab at the bottom of this page.


 

“Angel” carries with her the meaning of her name wherever she goes, but her “going” is impaired by her two useless hind legs which require daily wound dressings because they drag whenever she moves.

Angel ignored us when she arrived in October, 2007. She had been hit by a car, and her back was broken. Although her condition seemed grim, the brightness of her eyes was truly other-worldly. For two weeks Angel required intensive nursing care. She couldn’t go to the toilet, sit up, or eat without help. She needed constant washing and adjusting of positions. But it seemed no matter how much acre we gave her, she was not really improving, developing sores all over her body. The time had come for us to consider putting Angel to sleep…UNTIL…after lying flat on her side, suddenly Angel leaped up to chase a cat. She flew across the room as fast as her front lets could carry her. Chasing the cat turned to trailing behind whoever last bent down to give her love. She carries in her face wisdom, grace, forgiveness and appreciation. We all hope that it will be a very long time before Angel returns to heaven. But until then, she will spend her days at Animal Aid.
 

“Spaghetti” wiggles like a noodle. He and his brother arrived at Animal Aid as young puppies suffering from brain damage. They had both been hit in the head with rocks thrown by young boys. Spaghetti’s brother, sadly, passed away in the first 24 hours. Spaghetti himself was in a coma. But he regained consciousness and after a month, unable to move or eat without the help of Animal Aid staff and volunteers, he lifted him self onto his wobbly legs and never stopped going since. Today, he spends his days chasing leaping into our arms for kisses, playing with dogs (he’s excellent

at “chase”) and angling for treats (biscuits, the lunch people brought from home). Spaghetti will always be a wobbling worm; he’ll never be as coordinated as a normal dog, but this doesn’t slow him down, and he doesn’t miss out on any play. He has lived at Animal Aid since May, 2007.
 

“Rambo” came to Animal Aid in February 2007 as a young rambunctious boy. We were never sure how his back legs became paralyzed but it never slowed him down from stealing everyone else’s food, getting into the garbage, and general causing as much trouble as his good two front legs would possibly allow. He adores affection, and won’t take no for an answer. As Rambo grew, the wounds on his unused back legs became serious from constant dragging. Since this photo was taken one of his hind legs has been amputated. He is fully healed and back to his naughty playful self.
 

“Buddha” is a beautiful, gracious, giant-sized Chihuahua whose “owners” threw her away when she developed a tumor on her stomach that they found unattractive. She was dropped off at Animal Aid hospital with her stomach covered in tumors which maggots had gotten into. We solved the maggot problem within hours, but the tumors proved much more challenging. After a bout of chemo-therapy followed by surgery and physical therapy necessary to heal the wounds, Buddha is healed. But, having never lived amongst other dogs, we cannot release her into the street. She WILL however shake hands with anyone who enters the hospital. Buddha’s idea of “play” isn’t like that of other dogs. She won’t interact with them. All she wants is love and affection, and that’s what we give her, every day. And you can, too.

“Kheli” means “play-girl.” Kheli trembles with joy and taps her tail on the ground with such harnessed energy that a dust cloud often surrounds her. A suspected vitamin deficiency in her youth, or a congenital birth defect, affected the joints of all four of Kheli’s legs, and she can only walk in a slow, opossum-like waddle. But she seems fuelled by the electric power of the pleasure she can take from a kindly glance, or a warm hello. And when you bend down to stroke her beautiful forehead, Kheli’s love wraps around you so tight it makes it hard to move to the next waiting angel.
 

“Scout” came to Animal in January 2008. He had been attacked by a dog and had many deep wounds. Scout was extremely frightened and in a lot of pain, but after spending time with the staff and volunteers, Scout learned he no longer needed to fear, and he began to trust, receive love, and give love in return. He recovered from his wounds and was released back into the neighborhood where he came from. We don’t know why, because it is fairly rare that bigger dogs attack young ones, but he was attacked again, and this time his injuries are so severe that he is now unable to use his back legs, and will live the rest of

his life with people who love him in the company of safe dogs in the middle of a world where he feels loved.
 

“GoGirl” is our most “senior” resident. She came to live in Animal Aid in 2003, before the hospital had officially opened. A veterinary doctor visiting from England recommended that we put her to sleep, but she protested with every faculty of her being. In fact, GoGirl is able to move efficiently, raising her hind legs off the ground without incurring drag wounds. She has assigned herself a “Senior Advisor” role in the revolving-door “gated community” of Animal Aid. There are few new admissions that don’t get an admissions interview by GoGirl. Most everyone “passes” although it seems each animal must acknowledge her, in some way, as reigning monarch.
 

“Elvis” was named after “The King” (Elvis Presley) because of his showmanship. Not only can he howl like the King but it appears that he is constantly shaking his hips. He has a permanent twitch in one of his back legs as a result of having severe distemper in his youth. But he survived through his bout with distemper with full intelligence, and a lifelong palsy which comes from neurological impairment. While Elvis is now a fully healthy dog, he was with Animal Aid far too long to have a neighborhood association in the city. Even though many dogs are with Animal Aid too

long to recognize their original neighborhoods, we often must make the sad decision to drop them there despite this possible lack of recognition. We have kept Elvis because of his long life at Animal Aid and because he is “The King” after all. He serves as a big cuddly uncle to many incoming puppies, helping to clean them and nuzzle them into understanding that it’s not only people who love them.
 

“Mongey” is far too beautiful to be subjected to the mobs of admirers she generates wherever she goes. Autographing, posing for photographs, modeling and acting take up much of Mongey’s time. She was a failure-to-thrive baby who stayed small for months. Although her growth spurt came eventually, Mongey’s deformed jaw requires special feeding, which she receives with love in Animal Aid.

Raju came with massive electrical burns on his face, and that’s why he looks so strange. His little nose was burned right off. He’s blind. He lives in a caged home that two donors (Pia and Klaus Jacobsen) built for him in 2004. He’s a macaque (red-faced) monkey from North India, and we know he was illegally poached and assume he was forced to perform for money on a chain. But the owner couldn’t use him after his injuries and abandoned him in Udaipur; we received an emergency call from someone who found him laying listless with infected burns all over his face and hands. We don’t know any more than that. Raju needed eye-drops many times during the day, and absolutely hated them. But he recovered all his strength and began playing as soon as we provided him the space to do so. He is not a tame monkey; he doesn’t want to be handled. What he DOES enjoy is harassing dogs that are tied near to him, and he loves his friend Selki (a male monkey. “Selki” means girlfriend. Readers can interpret this as liberally as they may. More on Selki in another story.) Please, if you’ve always wanted a monkey, now’s your chance. Raju needs more friends and you can send him your blessings every day, mysteriously hidden in fruit and vegetables that your donation helps us provide.

 

“Kangaroo” sits up as she walks, and truly does have a kangaroo-like movement. She is a most interesting story of shyness. Almost all the dogs at the shelter have an initial wariness which melts within days if not within hours of receiving love (and bribed by biscuits.) But Kangaroo was a hold-out. For more than a hear, she would not let anyone touch her. She’d take her food in a remote area, and then hurry into the fields where she stayed (contentedly, but distantly) until the food bowl was filled. Then, truly out of the blue, after thousands of efforts among staff and volunteers to let us touch her, Kangaroo changed! Claire kneeled down one day close to her, as she and others had done so many times before, and for reasons we really don’t understand, Kangaroo hopped over to her, licked her hands, and lay down for a belly rub. Within days, she accepted the touch of many people (not everyone though—she’s still quite selective) and bursts with love for affection now, smiling and cheerful. It is really one of the behavioral mysteries of our experiences in Animal Aid, why, after so long, the

sudden transition occurred. We’re so grateful for it. She’s a gorgeous spirit.
 

“Polly” is blind. She may have had an owner who no longer wanted her once she became blind, because she is extremely relaxed with people. She has a coat and face which is a little collie-like. She must have become blind quite recently because she is NOT good at navigating by hearing and smelling. She is frightened of other dogs and likes to be kept at a safe distance. Polly loves to go for walks, but we can’t let her off a chain because she does get very frightened by other dogs in addition to walking into walls.

“Thomas” was a baby donkey who had been tethered leg to leg with plastic packing tape which severed the tendons in his hind leg and permanently disabled him. He has lived in Animal Aid since 2004. Since baby donkeys are extremely fuzzy and affectionate, Thomas never wanted for affection and play from humans, and if ever an animal thought he were a person, it would be Thomas, who sits together with you at mealtimes, relaxes over a newspaper with you during a tea break, follows you through your daily duties of feeding the dogs or other animals, and generally fulfills the highest notion of what it means to be a “companion animal.” That term is usually used in reference to dogs and cats, but anyone who has ever spent time with other species knows that even wild animals are our companions when we live in harmony with them. Thomas is always cheerful; his sweetness accompanies him everywhere, and brightens the day of anyone who has the good luck to pass a few moments with him.