Animal welfare activist felicitated

WORLD ANIMAL DAY IN SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka’s Animal Welfare Activists commemorated World Animal Day by recognizing and felicitating Animal Welfare Activists who over the years have worked tirelessly for the betterment and upliftment of Community animals. The felicitation ceremony which was held at Park Street Mews Restaurant.

Sagarica Rajakarunanayake who was felicitated has walked the corridors of power for animal welfare, picketed on streets, and continues to feed and nurture her own and community animals. She remains vociferous about issues relating to the care for animals and their rights.

Her childhood was a combination of connecting with nature guided by two parents who were animal lovers and activists in their own way, in keeping with the tradition of love for animals.

Interesting is the story of a cow who was brought as a gift for her father who was quite reluctant to accept it, but her mother feeling sorry for the cow, and thinking it would be given for slaughter, accepted and reared it. Every time the cow heard the father’s car coming down the road to their home, the cow started mooing, welcoming him.

Her school days started at Lindsay School, Bambalapitiya. Later she entered Bishops’ College,where she was a student activist and was appointed Head Prefect. She moved on to Aquinas University College to do her ALs in English, History and Economics. Being impatient to go into the wider world, she joined Lever Brothers in the Market Research Division.

While carrying on with her work at Levers, she became the first female Union leader there, and fought for many issues related to employee rights. A key achievement was the amalgamation of the staff and workers’ union, a milestone in private sector trade unions.

With this activism and rebelling for workers’ rights, she moved to fighting for animal rights. Sagarica joined Gal Gava Mithuro for the rights of the cart bull. While there she organized the first World Animal Day clinic with Veterinarian Dr Nandana Atapattu. The clinic was targeted for dogs and cattle. This event received much media exposure. Word had been sent to many carters and they were given the princely sum then of Rs 100 each, to bring their animals for the clinic as a day’s work was lost. A special cream was prepared by Dr Nandana for the wounds created by placing the yoke on the neck of the bull. Much work was done with the Police too. One of the first newsletters on animals was also started while being part of Gal Gava Mithuro.

Sagarica started her own organization, Sathva Mithra in 1993. She intervened at a “Tirikkal” or hackery racing event and sought to stop the torture of the racing bulls, and obtained much cooperation from the Police too.

She had a great commitment to stop the killing of stray dogs captured by the CMC and other local authorities, which was away from the traditional love for animals in the culture and living of Sri Lankan people. After much campaigning, the No Kill Policy on dogs was clinched by Sagarica after talking to then President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Though many lobbied and worked on this issue, she persuaded President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the need to stop the killing of dogs captured from the street by local authorities, in view of the pain and suffering of these animals, under a colonial era law. President Rajapaksa was unaware of the huge pain and suffering imposed on these dogs. She also informed President Rajapaksa of the WHO protocol on controlling Rabies through catch, neuter, vaccinate and release.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, himself a strong lover of animals, gave an immediate order to stop the killing of stray dogs, and also made arrangements to provide adequate funding for the vaccination and sterilization of dogs. This initiated the facilities for providing vaccination and sterilization of all dogs, which continues to this day, and has seen the huge decline in rabies in the country.

As a member of the Advisory Committee to the Zoological Gardens, she was an activist for better conditions for animals at the Dehiwala Zoo. A significant move by her was being a single, one woman protester, at the auction sale of the Zoo elephant – Raja, after issues of cruelty to it. The matter was taken to the courts, leading to the Zoological Gardens having to find out the facilities, especially sufficient land and water, that can be provided by those who bid for the ownership of elephants sold by auction from the Zoo. The case was won, and Sagarica became the first woman to carry out such a legal battle to prevent cruelty and ensure better living conditions to domesticated elephants.

She also initiated action at the Zoo against a mahout that had badly injured the eye of the elephant Ganga, by striking it with a stone to make it rise from the water. The related inquiry saw interdiction and punishment for the mahout, and the overall improvement

of care for elephants at the Zoo. This was also the first time that such an inquiry was conducted at the Zoo, about an injury to an animal. Such injuries were till then buried in the normal running of the Zoo.

She has been a regular contributor to the media on animal rights and the welfare of animals. The “Animal Rights Diary” was a regular column by her, which had very wide leadership and reader responses. Another first by her was arranging with the Postal authorities to issue a stamp and a first day cover to the community dog, drawing special attention to the situation of the street dog.

Her message to the younger generations of animal welfarists is “speak out and act without fear when you see cruelty to and neglect of animals. You do not have to know anyone influential to lobby these issues. Do it as you, and force yourself on decision makers to make a change”