Mangaluru: Animal activist Tauseef Ahmed, popularly known as Mr Rescuer, on Wednesday, January 8, announced his latest pro-animal venture, “Project Jal” – a project initiated to provide water for the stray animals in the city.
Tauseef made the announcement of his latest project on Facebook earlier in the day.
“Extremely delighted and excited to share my new project details with my extended family here. Water bowls are getting ready for drinking water for stray animals and birds,[sic]” his Facebook post read.
“We use water for drinking, washing clothes, vehicles, bathing and so many things. Animals ask water only to drink and unfortunately they don’t even get that, suffer from dehydration, infections, skin diseases and die. Most end up drinking dirty sewage water and fall sick and die a slow death. How unfortunate is that..!! [sic]” he adds.
Through “Project Jal” Tauseef aims to cover as many places as possible in order to “distribute water bowls for animals and birds absolutely free of cost”.
“People can collect bowls, keep it in in their house, surroundings etc.,” his post reads.
Speaking to Newskarnataka.com, Tauseef said, “Even though the project has not yet been launched, many people have asked me for the bowls. There are many people who want to help, but don’t know how and in what to keep the water. Usually, people keep plastic bowls with water, but that contributes to the trash. So I thought of making durable bowls that can be placed anywhere and everywhere.”
Asked how many bowls are available, Tauseef said, “Right now, I have about three to four bowls with me. More bowls should be ready by January 20, after which I will start distributing them.”
On a friend’s suggestion, Tauseef decided to paint the bowls to make them more attractive so that more people will be willing to take them. “If the bowls look attractive, people will want to keep them in their gardens as they will look like they (the bowls) belong in the garden. People may think ‘Oh these look good and will look very nice in my garden’,” he said adding that the bowls will come in blue, red and yellow colours. They are also light in weight so they are easier to carry around.
Asked what material the bowls are made of, he explained, “Initially, I thought of making the bowls out of clay, but that takes too long and they are quite expensive. So, I decided to get ones made of cement as they are easier to make, long-lasting and cheaper. This way, I can make more bowls to be kept in more places.”
When asked if he would be giving the bowls to people in places outside Mangaluru, Tauseef said that there will be no delivery of the items. “If someone wants the bowls they can come and collect them from certain distribution centres. I have not yet decided which places will be the distribution centres,” he added.
To a query about why he is taking this initiative, Tauseef said, “For many years we have seen animals, especially birds die of thirst during this time. They do not get enough water to drink and sometimes, the animals end up drinking sewage or other dirty water, which adds to their problems and gives them infections or other diseases. By distributing bowls, I want to ensure that the animals get clean and regular water to drink.”
Keeping February 14 (Valentine’s Day) in mind, Tauseef aims to reach out to “as many animals and birds as possible and show them we care and we do love them” through this project.
Stray animals have no one to care for them, other than a few souls who have taken up the task of being their “rescuers”. It doesn’t take much to keep water for the stray animals in our neighbourhood. So, let us do our part and keep as many animals from dying of thirst as possible.
