The Animal-Loving Dentist Behind ‘Safe-Paws’
-Pooja Shah
THE INSPIRATION
Five years ago, a young aspiring dentist, Pooja Shah adopted a puppy who had recently got vaccinated. She felt like the happiest person on the planet to have a cute animal companion. However, the puppy got a disease as a result of improper vaccination and passed away. That day, Pooja decided that she will help others facing similar problems so that they don’t have to go through the pain of losing a pet.
THE JOURNEY
Ever since that day, Pooja has volunteered and worked with many leading NGOs of India. These include ‘Blue cross’ and ‘New World’. She works with them to this day. A few years ago, she met a man named Pravish, who lived in Chennai and ran an NGO called ‘Safe Paws.’ Unfortunately, around 2 years ago, Pravish passed away and Pooja has been running the NGO since then. She handles their Instagram page as well, which has over one thousand followers.
RESCUING ANIMALS
Feeding dogs has been Pooja’s hobby for a long time and she has rescued many pets since joining ‘Safe Paws.’ She helps them find new homes and takes care of them if they’re injured. Pooja has been volunteering for other NGOs as well as running her own. ‘Safe Paws’ also works with ‘Blue Cross’ for rescuing and feeding stray dogs and cats.
Pooja ensures that she is making the right decision when choosing the families to give the animal to by making them fill a form. She even finds temporary homes for the strays so that they can become healthy again. Maintaining a close working relationship with veterinary doctors is something Pooja does as she is also an aspiring dentist.
SPONSORS AND VOLUNTEERS
The trusted sponsors of ‘Safe Paws’ took care of the financial hurdles and helped them in organizing several food drives. Thus, Pooja and her team fed a lot of stray animals in Chennai. They tend to conduct these food drives in the popular parts of the city so that they can target a larger crowd.
Currently, her organization does not take donations but they invite volunteers to help them. They are always welcome to new volunteers to assist them.
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HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC IMPACTED THEM?
Her NGO used to conduct many food drives for stray dogs. They even arranged food and water bowls which were laid out in popular areas of the city. Since the pandemic has hit, her NGO hasn’t been able to arrange as many food drives and is struggling to find new sponsors.
Pooja says that even though the pandemic has affected them badly, it has brought many like-minded people together and has helped them find new volunteers. We all hope that this pandemic goes away soon and many more food drives are conducted.
FUTURE GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS
Pooja is in the final year of her Bachelor in Dental Surgery degree and will soon become a certified dentist. She will continue to work on her amazing organization and will help many more stray animals. She hopes to organize many more food and adoption drives in the heart of Chennai. She even plans to help many strays get vaccinated. She wishes to link up with many more NGOs and expand her organization.
Pooja is a remarkable human being who has always helped animals in any way she can. The ForFurs family wishes her luck in all her future endeavors and hopes that she achieves all her goals. We know that she will reach astounding heights in her career and organization. It is truly heartwarming to see all the work that she has done and we hope she gets immense support in the future.
-Avijit Mandal
