A 63-year-old social and animal rights activist from Hyderabad has been feeding and rescuing stray animals for the last 11 years.
Prasad worked with a multi-national company in Saudi Arabia for 15 years and returned to India in 1995. Since then he has been active as a social activist and since 2010, he started working for stray animals by feeding and rescuing the stray animals.
Speaking to ANI, Prasad said, "I have been passionate about social work and animals rescue from a very young age. After working for an MNC in Saudi Arabia, I returned to India in 1995 and after I came back, I established an orphanage and in 2010, I started working for animal welfare. I have handed over the orphanage to a friend of mine who is looking after it".
He said that after working for stray animals, he realized that many people have been ignoring the problems the animals face.
"In the initial days, I have started with feeding and looking after the stray animals in my locality and further realized that the stray animals from other areas are also facing the same problem of hunger and lack of care, that is when I gradually started feeding stray animals from other areas too," he added.
As of now, Prasad feeds over 200 to 250 dogs on daily basis across 21 areas in Hyderabad.
To feed all these stray animals every day, Prasad spends nearly about Rs 60,000 per month of which most of the contribution is made by him and his sisters and the rest by few others.
He further said, "These stray animals need care and love and not many look after them and their needs. I have seen many animals starving to death beside roads. That is when I decided to look after them."
Prasad has nearly about 10 dogs in his house, all of them have been rescued by him. While some dogs have been found starving to death while some with severe injuries over them.
He said that in the initial days when they started feeding the strays in his locality, people of his locality opposed him. He said that he tried to convince them, while some have been convinced, the others still oppose him and despite all this, the feeding process goes on without any break for a single day. He added that in few cases, he was even harassed by the people.
Apart from feeding and looking after the stray animals, Prasad is also working on girl child education in rural parts of the state.
Shyamala the sister of Prasad who herself is an animal rights activist and has been working alongside her brother since the inception said that as her brother she is also passionate about animals, "That is why we were able to support him through his journey in saving the lives of the stray animals".
( With inputs from ANI )
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