Meet the animal lover, who takes care of over 300 pets, 1,000 monkeys

Santoshnagar: She does not run an NGO nor is a noted animal rights activist, but due to her obsession she has dedicated her life and remained committed to serving the speechless creatures for years. Hundreds of animals most of which are stray, find shelter at her residence and farm houses in city and other locations and cost of feeding is borne at her own expenses.

Meet 49-year- old Shameem Sultana, who remained single and now is the guardian of hundreds of animals, mostly cats. Her passion for animals made her to commit her life for the well-being of abandoned animals of all kinds, which include dogs and other pets. One of the interesting facts is that besides these animals she also takes care of about 1,000 monkeys which live at her farm house in Narsapur in Medak district.

Her childhood hobby of spending time with pets slowly transformed her to a full-time animal lover where much of her time is dedicated towards regular chores of animals, similar to a mother who is committed to her children. Youngest amongst eight of the siblings (4 brothers and 4 sisters), she stays with her brother in a house where about 65 young cats are the other family members. The adult cats numbering around 150 remain at her farm house in Balapur. “The young cats are kept in the house for about 7-8 months and are later shifted to farm house, where they are kept like a family in accordance with the type of breed,” she explained.

A native of Karimnagar district, Shameem regularly feeds the stray dogs and whenever she finds a canine which needs medical attention, she takes her to a nearby veterinary clinic in Chandrayangutta or the one situated on Sagar road. She recalls that earlier amongst her pets were pigeons and also a horse, the largest animal she had taken care off. She regrets the death of the horse which could not cope with the injury it had sustained earlier.

For taking the well-being of the cats, she also engaged two workers, who ensure that the surroundings are kept clean. To witness this phenomenon, children from nearby localities visit her, while some of them also drop abandoned or stray animals at her residence. “School children and college students who find these animals bring to us, as parents may not allow them to keep,” adds Shameem.

Feeding these animals is one of the challenging task, keeping in view their health conditions. Food being supplied to cats, include tender non-veg (boiled liver), wheat flour soup with milk, rice with fish powder, which is boiled in liver water. The cats at her residence consume about 7 kgs of liver daily, apart from 7 liters of milk, 2 kgs of wheat flour soup and 6 kgs of boiled rice for twice a day. While for dogs she serves milk and meat scrap twice a day, near her residence during night hours. And for monkeys living at her farm house in Narsapur, bananas and other fruits are regularly supplied. Interestingly, all the expenses of these animals are borne by her family.

BY M M Farooqui