Mumbai rains: Animal shelter housing 91 strays floods; 2 dogs, 3 cats die | Mumbai News
VASAI: On Aug 19, relentless rains and flooding in Vasai taluka affected JJ Foster Home (Jeet & Juhi) and Wagging Hearts Foundation, run by 20-year-old student Jeet Bhatti, where it claimed the lives of two dogs and three cats.Bhatti housed 28 dogs and 63 cats at his shelter in Naigaon, in addition to six strays that he cared for by building a temporary structure nearby. Bhatti, who has been rescuing animals since his teens, described the scene as heartbreaking. “The animals were terrified and under immense stress. Even though our house is built a couple of feet above ground, water rose up to nearly 4 feet inside,” he said. He blamed rampant construction in Naigaon and destruction of mangroves, combined with record-breaking rains on Aug 18–19 and a high tide, for the disaster.As the water levels kept rising, Bhatti’s uncle Shyam Halder, an experienced swimmer, tied a rope across the flooded road to a tree, anticipating that the shelter would soon be submerged. This improvised lifeline enabled Bhatti and Halder to carry several animals to a safer spot. Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) and fire brigade, overwhelmed by emergencies across the region, could not extend help. Local police connected Jeet with the forest department, which arrived with a boat and managed to rescue about 15 strays, “but further operations had to be abandoned as waters rose dangerously”, he mentioned.Bhatti said, “The rescued animals were later transported to Mumbai with the help of NGO Yoda who sent an ambulance tempo from Malad to our location, where we were hiding in an abandoned house and NGO Furacause owner Riya Choksi sent an truck from Lokhandwala, Andheri to our location. Both reached together at 1am in morning on Aug 20. He also added that an animal lover Indu Verma came walking to our location in that flood with cat cages to settle them around 7 pm on Aug 19. All cats and 5 dogs were in the truck and we loaded 21 dogs in the tempo ambulance of yoda. We first reached Malad with both vehicles at morning 5 am and fostered all the dogs in Yoda.” Bhatti took all the cats in a truck to Versova at his foster home because he couldn’t keep all of them together. Bhatti says, “I am just 20, but I know now that every year floods will devastate Naigaon. My priority is to construct a concrete shelter with upper floors, so the animals can be moved to safety when waters rise again”. Bhatti mentioned that he never asked anyone for any funds as donation in the last 3 years and he along with his mother built all these by themselves but “this time we seek donations because now these animals don’t have a house”, he added. I see them as my siblings, not pets.
