They could not leave as they could not get anyone to adopt Chitty and Legs.
British couple Steve and Mary Muscroft, who came on a two-week holiday to Kovalam on March 17, 2008, recently completed their tenth year in India, all because of two street dogs.
They could not leave as they could not get anyone to adopt Chitty and Legs. “These two dogs had character. We could not walk away from them. The decision to stay was forced upon us, with no one to look after the dogs,” says Steve.
It was only in 2013 that they founded the NGO ‘Street Dog Watch,’ but even before it was formally started, they had begun rescuing, vaccinating and sterilizing dogs. Steve bought a motorcycle only to feed dogs. Today, their home at Mukkola has 100 dogs, and according to Steve, all but one speak English. “One dog can understand only Malayalam instructions. That one was 10 years’ old at the time of rescue,” he says.
They have seen through 1,531 sterilizations, 322 adoptions and 2,483 vaccinations. All this, employing a team of five, and some good Samaritan volunteers, including a doctor.
The couple nurse ill dogs, carrying continuous checks to see the improvement, and have no shortage of food and water.
To help with all the costs, this British couple regularly holds fundraisers and have also been helped out by family, friends, as well as tourists who’ve donated to the Street Dog Watch. They are also in the process of working with the local government to try and have an official license granted for the work they do.“I want Street Dog Watch to become self-sufficient and get the local authority to help with the bill. It’s so the money people give us can go on treats for the dogs, rather than on basic care,” Steve says.
Steve and Mary’s NGO is looking to raise money through crowdfunding, to bolster their animal birth control and anti-rabies efforts. They wish to have a puppy house and a dog retirement home under one roof.
They may not have stayed in Kerala if it were not for the dogs. “The dogs took our life in a different direction,” says Mary.
Mary and Steve have put themselves out there selflessly for the stray dogs and are spreading the light of love, care and humanity. More power to them.
This post is part of the We Are the World Blogfest, a monthly event created by Damyanti Biswas and Belinda Witzenhausen to showcase stories of hope and light. This month I’m helping out as a co-host, along with extraordinary bloggers Peter Nena, Inderpreet Kaur Uppal, Roshan Radhakrishnan,Sylvia McGrath and Belinda Witzenhausen —please hop over to check out their WATWB posts as well as from other WATWB participants for a dose of feel-good to last you a whole month. You’ll be happy you did!
Click HERE to check out the intention and rules of the blogfest and feel free to sign up at any time. You are always welcome!
49 Responses
The world needs more people like this to be showcased. This is the beauty of #WATWB
True that!!
So sweet of these two lovely souls to have stayed back, so much love and commitment. Thanks for sharing shilpa:)
Agree, their efforts are truly commendable!
Such a sweet and generous couple. Thank you for sharing their story.
Thanks for dropping by, Peter!
I couldn’t do it, but salute the kindness of this couple! 😉
Yes, hats off to Mary and Steve!
Wow, as an animal person, I love this story. Their dedication and passion is admirable! Thanks so much for sharing this and for being part of #WATWB.
Well said, their kindness and compassion is awe-inspiring. Thanks for dropping by, Belinda 🙂
What a heart-warming story!
Thank you, Deborah!
best humanity example , i appreciate
Thanks Pushpendra!
Such empathy and devotion is rare indeed.
Nice initiative at WATWB Shilpa.
Kudos to them. We need such people who have so much of love and care.
Amen to that!
Awww….made my heart melt!!
God’s own angels, aren’t they?
Absolutely… in every way!
What a heart touching story.. I wish people in India also have heart like these
There are quite a few like them but we need more such kind and compassionate souls!
Kudos to Steve and Mary. May their selfless service and love to the stray dogs continue forever.
Thanks Vasantha!
So much warmth & love clubbed together in this couple. Cheers for Steve & Mary who are one of those souls that make the world a better place.
Well said, Ashvini. We need more people like them!
This is the heart-rending interestingly told story of a British couple and two stray dogs. They fed them rescued, vaccinated and sterilised number of stray dogs selflessly with a rare empathy seen for mongrels in India. Nice subject with good treatment.
Yes, their efforts are awe-inspiring!
Aren’t they such angels! I love humans who take very good care of animals. As humans that is one of the best things that we could do.
Absolutely! There’s so much to learn from their kindness and compassion.
Very compassionate are these couple…kudos to them really…many people do lip service and these creatures are really harmless…saw ur post through indiblogger..nice post thanks.
Thank you for reading and dropping by KS! Appreciate it!
I have nominated you for the Mysterious Blogger Award. 🙂
https://namiwise.wordpress.com/2018/08/02/mysterious-blogger-award/
Thank you so much. Hopping over to your blog 🙂
Takes a lot of courage and a heart of gold to be this dedicated to the cause of animals. It’s a heartwarming and inspiring story… A one where they are leading by example. Thank you for sharing Shilpa
Hi Shilpa – that’s amazing to read … not what I expected … but so great they could change their lives and thus of the many dogs who come into their orbit … extraordinarily wonderful story … cheers Hilary
A big salute to their humanity, the world needs more such people!