International Day of Prayer for Animals, 3rd October

This was a really special day for all of us at IDA Deonar. The world celebrates the feast of St. Francis of Assissi, a wonderful person who regarded all creatures as his brothers and sisters. On this day, we thought it most fitting for all our charges to be formally blessed. We prevailed upon Fr. Joe D'Souza to come and bless the Centre, all the IDA workers and supporters and last but not least, all of our dear animal friends. Father obliged, and came all the way from Jacob's Circle Parish to extend the blessing. After the general blessing, he went around blessing all our animals in the different enclosures and can be seen in front of one of the maggot wound dog enclosures, doing the needful.

We were also fortunate to have among us, two Homeopathic practitioners. One was Dr. Prakash Lulla from Chembur. A well-known doctor for humans who extends his skill to treating animals as well. Ms Suneeta Tol is another person who has treated stray animals with homeopathic medicine for almost a decade. She has had great success in the treatment of a number of ailments, being especially successful treating skin diseases. She demonstrated just how easy it is to administer this medicine by putting a few drops of liquid onto a biscuit, instantly consumed by an obliging "patient", Pinky, standing nearby.