Rescued animals aren’t broken; they’ve simply experienced more life than the others. This school of thought has been successfully adopted by the designer couple, Alpana and Neeraj Mittal, who work under the renowned brand name ‘Alpana & Neeraj’.

Alpana Mittal, who has always been fond of dogs and remembers stopping on the street every time she saw one to pet them, has worked out a plan of her own for this impressive cause. “This is the algorithm we have planned to work around, foster, treat, adopt and then a new batch” she says as she talks about how the cycle functions.

Ken

Picture Courtesy: Alpana Mittal

Together the couple decided to adopt their first pooch, a beagle named Heruka, who had trouble getting adopted because of a cloudy eye. “Getting Heruka changed my life & has turned me into this person that I am today! He has the most beautiful eyes!” she adds. After getting Heruka, they went on to adopt strays who were either tortured or had been suffering from some kind of terminal disease. A few of them include a beautiful Desi hilariously named ‘Pata Nahi’, an almost blind Lhasa named ‘Angel’ who is suffering from cancer, a German Shepherd named ‘Ken’ who had been tortured and disowned with a dislocated neck and another Desi named ‘Shiro’ who graced us with his presence at the Pet Fed Sunday brunch.

Shiro at Pet Fed's Sunday Brunch

Under their wings, they have also given solace to five kittens, all of whom reside at their balcony & are recovering at full pace! One of them named Emerald, has also been a victim of acid attack & was initially going to be put down on account of her condition. But little Emerald turned out to be quite a fighter and is recovering back to health. “I think the problem begins when people are not educated well enough on the topic of animal rights. It hurts to see little boys run after puppies with a stone in their palm having absolutely no idea about the consequences!” But unlike most of us, Alpana actually decided to do something about it.

Emerald: Now and then. 

Picture Courtesy: Alpana Mittal

“I organized a small picnic for the kids in my locality and introduced them to Heruka. They loved interacting with him. That was the time when I made them realize how wrong it is to unnecessarily hit creatures who don’t have a voice and can’t fight for themselves.” She believes that if every single person could spare some time, to support a particular campaign, this world could easily tackle animal abuse. “You don’t need to work full-time, but only do your bit as a human being” she adds.

Heruka  

Her husband, she says, has been patient throughout this journey. “Neeraj was initially terrified of dogs having being bitten by one himself at an early age. But after Heruka happened, he acknowledged how he used to misunderstand dogs and now when he sees one, he insists we bring him home!” Neeraj, who was initially a bit overwhelmed, now religiously feeds stray dogs on a daily basis and loves his own to death!

They are all undergoing treatment and till then are being fostered by the tender-hearted couple. After their recovery, they will be up for adoption. “She adds,I wish people would adopt more often! Unconditional love is as close as your nearest shelter.” We couldn’t agree more!

Featured Picture Courtesy: Alpana Mittal