Eight street puppies found covered in coal tar were successfully rescued in Tirur in the south Indian state of Kerala thanks to local volunteers and those from the Humane Society International (HIS) India who laboured for hours to scrub the pups clean, reports Malayalam news channel Mathrubhumi. They are hale and hearty now and united with their mother. A person named Jaleel first saw them and then alerted the animal rescue team from HSI India, which then sent its volunteers to Tirur to rescue the hapless animals. The incident took place last week.
The team had to work long and hard to get the puppies cleaned. They used vegetable oil to help take the tar off their fur. Some of the little ones had suffered injuries.
"This was such an awesome community effort because there is absolutely no doubt that these puppies would have died had the local people not come to their rescue. These tiny puppies had been trapped in the tar for many hours and were exhausted as well as overwhelmed by the noxious fumes. They had tar covering their eyes, and in their noses and mouths, so they would surely have perished were it not for these compassionate people", says Sally Varma of HSI India in the video report.
"It was thrilling to see these sweet pups come back to life and suckle from their mother after their ordeal", she added.
The state of Kerala has a history of street dog culling. But such sensitivity to street pups was welcomed. "To see this community tend to these street puppies with such kindness really makes us happy because Kerala has had a very troubled history with brutal dog culling", said Robert Tigga from HSI India.