Radha comes from a poor locality and she was unusual in that she loved to care for the dogs in her street even though she often had to stay in the premises of a temple and eat whatever the public distributed as “Prasad”. About two decades ago she began visiting Friendicoes obviously delighted to sit there and cuddle pups or pet the handicapped and those in pain. Slowly Radha began bringing in dogs from her own locality for the sterilization program and as people learnt of her Samaritan ways it became a regular feature for her to bring in injured abandoned sick pets and street pets.

Friendicoes has tried never to say NO to Radha because she brings in animals in severe pain and trauma, animals who could not possibly have survived without Radha’s help to bring them in to Friendicoes. And the organization is as thrilled as Radha when the dog or cat responds, recovers and is finally a sprightly lively dog or cat ready to either go back with Radha, to join her ever growing family of adopted mutts or stay on at Friendicoes joining the gang in the park or in front of the office.

The donations received by our donors through OneStage’s GAYE Programme help us sterilize and vaccinate animals brought by people like Radha, who brave a lot of violence and threats as women, in their own lives, (Radha still bears burn marks) yet find solace and comfort in these street dogs with their loyalty and affections.

Irrespective of her income status she has food to share and love and people have started donating to her so that she can now feed her “family” without begging.

The uniqueness of her story is that people usually think street dogs are a nuisance and hitting them or throwing hot water on them or acid was quite normal in her locality. But she has been able to see the “divine” or the “human” in her dogs, and without preaching she has changed the people in her locality specially the younger kids.

A small donation from the heart by donors just doesn’t go to sterilize and vaccinate a dog but slowly changes the life of the dog and the people around it, and then it percolates into the community as a kindness and compassion where the pain of an animal is seen to be as important as the pain of a person. The donations from various donors though the GAYE programme help us to reach out to many Radhas who are the heroes of their community in our eyes.

To find out more about the NGO, visit https://friendicoes.org