As per British novelist and poet Roald Dahl’s famous quote “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” Shivani Gautam of Taimoor Nagar just found her ‘Magic’ in Connaught Place recently. An avid animal lover, 28-year-old Shivani recently rescued a puppy from a beggar, who was drugged and used as a bait for begging. As Police and NGOs refused to rescue the drugged puppy, due to the threat of beggar mafia, she decided to take action on her own, with support from a male volunteer. After severe resistance by the beggar, she was finally able to rescue the puppy and named her ‘Magic’, as she found her smile magical.
Describing about the incident, she says, “The drugged puppy was used for begging at Connaught Place. A girl named Deepti Sharma, reached out for help to Delhi Police and a few popular NGOs to rescue the puppy. Though Police reached at the location but did not act and since group of beggars were there, nobody from the NGOs wanted to enter into any argument with them. She then posted about the incident on facebook and pleaded to rescue the puppy held captive and drugged by a female beggar. I saw that post and went to CP the very next day with a volunteer. We tried to convince the lady beggar to give the puppy for a routine checkup. As anticipated, the lady denied and started being aggressive.” Finally, Shivani was able to rescue the puppy, after distracting the beggar and escaped from the market.
“The puppy was about 20-days-old and unable to walk because of the drugs and weakness without mother’s milk,” she noticed. She fed the puppy and paid for her foster care, and now the puppy is healthy and will be soon adopted by a family.
Though ‘Magic’ was rescued by Shivani just few days back, but It was five years ago, when she was fighting her battle with fibroadenoma and struggling with the after-effects of lung bullectomy, that she stumbled upon her first rescue-an indie pup Jeeva. Meeting Jeeva changed her life forever. She saved the puppy after a severe accident and in that she found her biggest morale booster, to help fight her own health battles. Saving one puppy from road inspired her to follow the path of helping animals. “Saving animals and getting them treated, makes my job and house worth something”. Now, she clearly understands the pain of animals and is working to fight against animal cruelty. She turned to a vegan from a hard-core non-vegetarian, as she believes that all lives matter equally.
Shivani, who did her B.com from Gargi, College followed by a Masters in commerce from IGNOU, subsequently worked for a period of two years before she was diagnosed with fibroadenoma. She now mainly focuses on animal welfare, and also has an interest in learning Japanese and preparing for JLPT N3. She has saved many puppies suffering from diseases like distemper and parvovirus. About 25-30 street dogs rely on her for their food and treatment. She also does advocacy for the pets, who are being mistreated and exploited by their owners.
She believes that saving animals gave her a purpose in life. She has rescued baby squirrels, motherless cats dumped in a dumpster during winter. She calls herself mother to her 7 Indies, who stay with her. Even though it’s hard to raise funds for treatment of animals and other expenses, she has never given up hope. Shivani believes in magic and also knows that it’s her action that will make this magic possible.