Pets in Auroville

Auroville’s Dog Shelter is facing a breakdown of its services, a crisis directly triggered by a recent decision by the AVF auditors to ban crowdfunding in Auroville.

An Auroville health scare started some weeks ago, when three aggressive dogs were reported in and around the Auroville grounds. The Auroville Dog Shelter was on call, and was able to collect and quarantine all three dogs.

The Auroville dog shelter team issued a warning that it is only dedicated to rescuing dogs that can no longer survive on the streets due to illness, age, or accidents and that the shelter’s current capacity does not allow it to accommodate healthy puppies which people find on the streets.

It is common in India to see uncared stray dogs roaming the streets. For many years, until April 2005, a long time Aurovilian, Ann Plummer from New Zealand, known in Auroville as ‘Animal Care Ann’, provided food and care for the stray dogs and cats in the surrounding villages of Auroville, and to a lesser extent within Auroville.