Amala Akkineni: A saviour of animals

Amala Akkineni—Truly a mother of abandoned, injured, disabled and rescued animals

Blue Cross rescued nearly 10,000 abandoned and injured animals (dogs, cats, camels, buffaloes, donkeys and monkeys) in 2013. Prior to the Blue Cross, there was no organisation that used to take care of helpless creatures. In an exclusive interview with Hyderabad Hans, Amala Akkineni, actress and founder of Blue Cross, spoke at length about her 21 years of service in loving and rescuing animals.

The calm and serene lane at Jubliee Hills Road No 35 carries immense significance. One of the structures on the stretch is a home to many abandoned, injured and disabled animals and is christened as the Blue Cross. A lady clad in simple clothes at the office shares her chair with ‘Smokey’, a disabled cat. She is taking calls, counselling and co-ordinating with civic bodies. All this, while playing with ‘Ramu’, her favourite dog. Meet Amala Akkineni, the lady who can multi-task effectively, with a smile. Anybody would be moved, when they notice Amala pampering ‘Tictac’, a dog born without limbs and help blind dogs ‘Rocky’ and ‘Silver’ at the venue.

Amala and her organisation recued 9,389 animals in the year 2013. Among them, 585 animals were adopted. 137 cases of animal cruelty were registered and the perpetrators were counselled. If they didn’t pay heed to it, she would issue a circular to them from the police or through the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). Besides giving shelter, the animals are also treated for free at the Blue Cross. “We have a veterinary doctor who serves the injured and diseased animals for free. We not only rescue animals at the Blue Cross, we treat other animals too,” she informs.

Recalling how it all started, Amala shares, “When I moved from Chennai to Hyderabad in 1992, I saw many dogs dying on the roads. A chill ran down my spine when I saw them being injured and left unconcerned. I took all of them home and became their mother. It was then that Nagarjuna came up with the idea to start an organisation for the welfare of abandoned animals.”

“There was no organisation that worked and cared for animals back then. Nagarjuna donated an ambulance. We started Blue Cross with a phone and an ambulance. We initially took the animals to the veterinary hospital at Shanthi Nagar for treatment. The current office and infrastructure were set up in 1996,” shares Amala.

Amala and Blue Cross have been working in close co-ordination with the GHMC and it has been a fruitful association of 21 years. “I visit the GHMC dog pound every month. I discuss with the officials on how to go about protecting abandoned and stray animals. We give training to vets at the GHMC. Earlier, they used to kill the strays but post a High Court verdict in 2001, they are sterilising them and leaving them back at the place they were picked up from,” she adds.

Amala is very active in promoting, sterilising and vaccinating the strays. Talking about the importance of sterilisation, she says, “A pair of breeding dogs is equal to 2,000 pups. Animal birth control is very important. We have to sterilise and vaccinate the dogs and leave them back in the same area. They are best guards of the colony. People need to stop supporting and encouraging backyard breeding. Instead, we need to encourage spaying and neutering.”

Blue Cross has rescued camels, cattle, donkeys, monkeys and all the animals that were subjected to abuse. “After rescuing, we give proper treatment and observe if they are ready for adoption. Cattle adoption is also encouraged here. We give it to organic farmers who own more than five acres of land, so that they can take proper care of them,” the animal lover and activist informs.

Amala also informed about the awareness programmes organised by the Blue Cross. She informed that students are educated about dogs and are taught how to treat them. “We explain them that dogs love chasing and they shouldn’t run but walk slowly. There is a lot of ignorance among students about animals and we create awareness about it,” she adds.

“We train and counsel at the Andhra Pradesh Police Academy and Marri Chenna Reddy Human Resource Development Institute. We run campaigns at places where animal sacrifice is followed as a custom. 50 % of the calls that we receive are about people who want to abandon their dogs because they are old.

We counsel them by saying that dogs are part of the family and they should stay with us till the end just like our grandparents. We show them videos on how to take care of dogs. When people come forward to adopt dogs, we first interview and train them. While giving them a dog or a cat, we give them a food kit,” she informed. Amala Akkineni owns six dogs at home. When asked about her favourite dog, she says, every dog is special. “I adopt dogs which are old and about to die because no one adopts them. I even take some dogs home that are badly injured and scary to look at,” she elucidates.

“I had an amazing experience with one of my dogs, Diwali. I got her home on Diwali and named her after the festival. Sometime back, while Nagarjuna was busy shooting outdoors, a few drunkards came to my house at midnight and claimed that they had an appointment with Nagarjuna. When my security guard argued with them and didn’t let them in, they tried to climb the wall and jump in. Our security guard loosened Diwali’s belt. She chased them like a nightmare. They ran away to never come back. Diwali is our chief security officer,” laughs Amala.

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the centre of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children. Motherhood is special and Amala Akkineni is truly a mother of many abandoned, injured, disabled and rescued animals.