Mangaluru: It takes a great deal of courage, especially when you are young, to be patient and calm when everything around you seems to be falling apart. While we humans can speak our minds and express our turmoil, the same can’t be said for animals. A young pup, however, inspired the humans around him with his resilience, patience and calm attitude.
A seven to eight-month-old puppy was found covered almost entirely covered in tar near MRPL E-Gate at Bajpe on Friday, September 7. He was found by Yousif, a resident of the area, stuck to a wooden board and able to move only his eyes. Yousif immediately arranged for a vehicle to take the pup to the Animal Care Trust shelter in Shakthinagar.
The pup, later named Daamru (derived from the word “daamar”, which means bitumen), reached the shelter at around lunch-time and the volunteers and staff immediately got to work.
Tauseef Ahmed, rescue in-charge with Animal Care Trust (ACT), told NewsKarnataka, “He was completely covered in tar and the worst part was that the tar had hardened rendering him immobile.”
The volunteers began pouring vegetable oil on the scared little animal and massaged the tar out of its fur, little by little. They gave the pup breaks in between as continuous massaging can be very irritating. Throughout the entire process that took 12 to 13 hours over a span of two days, Daamru stayed calm and did not put up any resistance.
“The first thing we did was free the face and mouth so that the pup could eat,” said Tauseef, adding that as they were removing tar from the other parts of the body, milk and water was fed to the pup with the help of a syringe.
After parts of Daamru, like his face, stomach and legs were freed from the tar, he was given a break to rest when the other animals were being fed. When the volunteers tried to feed him a mix of chicken and rice, he immediately began to eat.
“At first we did not expect the pup to eat because animals in such cases usually take a long time to start eating. We had no such issues with Daamru as he almost immediately began to sniff around for food and ate when we fed him,” he added.
On the second day, a little more than 12 hours and 12 litres of oil later, Daamru was ‘daamar-free’. He was massaged with coconut oil to help with the healing, and after he was dry, he was given a bath in the evening.
When asked how long Daamru was stuck in the tar before being found, Tauseef opined that it would have been around one or two days. “Not many people pass through that area. It’s mostly deserted. Considering that the tar on him was hardened, it’s possible he was stuck for about one or two days,” he said.
The pup is now happy and vibrant, running about in the shelter’s compound. He has been at the shelter for a little more than a week now. Lucky for Daamru, his condition was not too bad after he was freed from the tar and has made a fast recovery. “Once he is completely fine we will put him up for adoption. He was neutered two days ago and is healthy. He should be released this week. Animals with stories like his tend to get adopted sooner,” Tauseef said.
Daamru was tended to by a total of 15 volunteers and 6 staff members while two doctors, Dr Yashaswi and Dr Medha.
