Eight puppies who were found covered in thick tar on the streets of Tirur, India, had a lucky escape when the local community rallied for hours in a desperate bid to save them on 28 Jan 2019. A barrel of tar had collapsed on the puppies in the early hours of the morning, and when local residents heard their whimpering, the tiny puppies had been struggling to breathe or move in the toxic tar for at least eight hours.

A local animal lover Mr Jaleel led the rescue effort which included residents, ambulance drivers and journalists, subsequently joined by animal rescuers from Humane Society International/India who drove for two hours to reach the scene after receiving a call for help from the local government. HSI/India praised the community effort which is all the more remarkable because historically the region has struggled with human/street dog conflict.

HSI/India continued the rescue effort at its facility in Nilambur where the team battled for hours to clean the puppies with vegetable oil until all eight were safely free of the sticky tar and could be reunited with their mum. Sally Varma of Humane Society International/India works with the local community to promote animal welfare and humane street dog management, and she was part of the HSI animal rescue effort when devastating floods hit Kerala last year.