The Venu Menon Animal Allies Award is the premier award for individuals in the animal welfare category, and goes to a person who has done exceptional work in caring for animals in distress and promoting the concept of animal welfare. The award carries a cash prize, a certificate and a statuette.
1999
Kamlabai Shinde
Ms Kamlabai Shinde, a poor cobbler woman living in Mumbai, has been running an informal animal shelter for the past 15 years with her own savings. Operating from a hovel outside Bandra station, she has been looking after abandoned dogs and cats at a makeshift shelter despite her own poverty-stricken condition.
2000
Jignasha Prithviraj Patel
Jignasha Prithviraj Patel from Jalna, received the Venu Menon Animal Allies Award for promoting animal welfare in ingenious and thought provoking ways. Jignasha, a 27-year-old graduate from Bombay University has promoted animal welfare in the small town of Jalna. Her varied activities include fighting legal cases, forming a coalition of bullock-cart owners and convincing the Jalna Nagar Parishad to take up a stray dog sterilisation programme.
2001
Geeta Manja
Geeta Manja has been working for the past twenty years for the welfare of animals in Mysore and neighbouring areas. She has shown immense courage in battling, to prevent animal sacrifices at temples in and around Mysore, and especially those in front of the Chamundi Express during the Ayudh Pooja. As founder-member of People for Animals, Mysore chapter, she has fought to eliminate the use of animals in research and in circuses. Her animal welfare work and her efforts to educate and motivate people to stop animal sacrifice are a source of inspiration for all.
2002
Lila Parulekar
Lila Parulekar, a citizen of Pune, has rescued, treated and sheltered hundreds of animals. Her home has been converted into an animal shelter where she houses and treats dogs, mules, donkeys, cats and birds. Her shelter has become a sanctuary for abandoned animals that have found more than a best friend in her.
2003
Angela Kazi
Angela Kazi is the best person to turn to in Goa if one wishes to save an animal in distress. Her PetPal column in a newspaper has been able to find homes for puppies. She saves cattle from slaughter houses. It was her prompt action that led to the conviction of the dog killers hired by the Margaon Port Trust . A member of the Animal Welfare Board of Goa and Animal Welfare Board of India, she currently assists the Panjim Municipal Council in animal-related matters. She was the founder trustee and honorary secretary of the PFA for five years and helped set up three animal shelters in Goa.
2004
Bandana Sengupta
Sixty three year old Bandana Sengupta has made animal welfare her mission in life. She has been looking after stray dogs, cats and other animals with her own meagre resources for over two decades now. Her house is a home for at least 50 stray dogs and their numbers increase by the day. She strongly believes in animal birth control and looks at it as a solution to the problems faced by strays in the years to come. After years of unorganised efforts, Mrs. Sengupta set up the Sonadi Shelter-cum-Hospital last year which has performed over a thousand ABC operations and keeps seventy dogs. She has inspired veterinarians to provide services free of cost and keeps three Vans to pick up animals in distress. Despite being old and arthritic, she continues to travel long distances to the hospital, where she plays the role of a chief administrator and works on animals hands on. Mrs. Sengupta recognises and knows the names of every dog that has passes through her hands.
2005
Rahul Sehgal
Twenty nine year old Rahul Sehgal gave up a lucrative career in the hotel management industry to devote his time to the care of animals. Within a short span of three and half years, he has helped set up an organisation that has 28 employees, three veterinary doctors and ambulances, has treated over 18,000 animals and birds, and completed over 10,000 sterilisations. He has played an important role in stopping the sale of exotic pets by the Ahmedabad zoo and the passage of a car rally through the prime habitat of the endangered wild ass. In a state that is known more for its extremes, Rahul Sehgal, comes as a breath of fresh air.
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