Street Dogs | Madras Animal Rescue | Chennai | Sterilisation

We are a small organisation that helps abandoned, injured and sick animals on the streets of Chennai, India.

What We Do

We are highly dedicated and devoted to improving the lives of animals.

Emergency rescues for critically sick or injured animals
Vaccination against deadly diseases
Animal birth control - to prevent further suffering & over-population
Shelter for old, paralysed and blind dogs - we currently have 65 dogs in the shelter
Improving the welfare of dogs in municipal dog pounds
The prevention of cruelty through advocacy and education

Bessie

Mama

What We Do

We are highly dedicated and devoted to improving the lives of animals.

Emergency rescues for critically sick or injured animals
Vaccination against deadly diseases
Animal birth control - to prevent further suffering & over-population
Shelter for old, paralysed and blind dogs - we currently have 65 dogs in the shelter
Improving the welfare of dogs in municipal dog pounds
The prevention of cruelty through advocacy and education

Mama

Mama was found with an injured leg and large wound, while still feeding a litter of puppies.

It took a month for her leg to heal. She was vaccinated and spayed. During the surgery, multiple tumours were found in her uterus. She, and her puppies are now doing well.

Spotty

Spotty, was rescued from Arumbakkam. A water can tempo had run over her and her jaw and spine were broken.

The vet was able to operate on her jaw and spine. She was in hospital for more than a month.

Today spotty lives with MARS founder, Sarah. She has shown remarkable improvement; she eats, poops & pees on her own. She is able to sit up and physiotherapy is done daily. Hydrotherapy will be started soon and she may be put her on a cart (dog wheelchair) at a later stage.

Some Achievements

300

We have rescued over 300 abandoned dogs in 3 years.

These dogs have suffered horrendous conditions on the street.

We provide food to between 80 and 100 dogs daily.

Starvation & malnutrition, which leaves dogs susceptible to disease is endemic.

400

Procurement of 400 vaccines in one 2-day period, & vaccination of 400 shelter dogs across 3 shelters against the deadly diseases of distemper, parvo, adenovirus and parainfluenza.

Who are we?

MARS was founded by Sarah Iyer in March 2019. Sarah has 15 rescued dogs in her house, 5 of which are paralysed.

She progressed from just feeding the dogs on the street to creating a trust to help the animals in a bigger way.

Soon people in and around got to know and started asking for help in rescue as well to get street dogs sterilized.

“I did close to 100 sterilizations and realized this wasn't enough. We then formed a WhatsApp group of close to 80 volunteer rescuers and animal welfare advocates."

Sarah finally decided if she wanted to help more dogs, she needed people and also had to be more systematic if she wanted to go a long way.

“I decided to start a trust just so that not only dogs in and around my area but dogs all over and city and beyond could be helped.”

Since we started, we have been continuously working at making the lives of the street dogs better and safer.

“I believe every life deserves and can be saved given the proper treatment, love and care at the right moment and that moment is now."

Ways You Can Get Involved

Volunteer

You could help us rescue animals in need, or participate in a sterilisation or vaccination camp. You could also help us remotely with social media or fundraising.

Publicise

Write an article about the work of MARS or showcase our work on platforms like Instagram.

Adopt a Pet

We have many dogs that urgently need loving forever homes. They are desperate to find someone to love and care for them. Could you be their new family?

Donate

So far, we have been entirely run by donations from individuals. We want to help so many more animals. Please consider a monthly or one-off donation.

Awareness

Help others learn about how to care for animals. Stand up against cruelty by speaking out. Set up a group in your school, workplace or community to advocate for animal welfare.

Fundraise

Run a fundraiser for us at your workplace, school or among your friends.

Can You Help Us Achieve Our Future Goals?

Buying 2 acres of land to build a larger shelter.
Starting a pup adoption unit.
Creating a rehabilitation unit for paralysed, old and/or blind animals.
To start an ambulance service to rescue the injured and wounded animals 24x7
To establish a clinic to treat the injured animals.
Building a quarantine area for contagious diseases like distemper, parvo or rabies.
Building a crematorium for animals.
More ABC (animal birth control) camps for the dogs in the city as well as the periphery areas which fall under the panchayats to control dog population.
Vaccination drives to get every dog vaccinated for rabies and distemper, parvo, adenovirus and parainfluenza (DHPP)
Awareness programs in school, colleges, communities, MNC, etc.
Food and water bowl project.
To maintain a database and network so that once a dog is vaccinated and sterilized, all that he requires is one meal and water to stay safe and happy.
To aid, assist and collaborate with other organizations and Individuals in Animal Welfare to bring about systems so that help can be available for a larger number of animals.
To prevent the breeding and selling of animals illegally