How Hold My Paws Is Making Bengaluru a Safe Place for Cats?
It was in the late 2020s when a group of six friends in Bengaluru got together to help cats across the city find a safe home in their foster care. Fast forward to 2022, the group, today known as Hold My Paws, has helped more than 300 cats in the city get adopted and more than 100 cats neutered and released.
Co-founded by Arathi Rao along with Bhargavi Ramanathan, Prasanna Lakshmi, Manogna Madappa, Lalitha Kamath and G. Bindu Rao, Hold My Paws has built its strong presence within Bengaluru’s animal welfare circle and work towards cats adoption, rescues, sterilization and trauma care.
Founding Team: Arathi Rao, Bhargavi Ramanathan, Prasanna Lakshmi, Manogna Madappa, Lalitha Kamath and G. Bindu Rao
How do they do it
Hold My Paws has built a strong digital presence over the years. They are actively posting on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to connect with potential cat parents and people who know the whereabouts of cats that need help.
“All our rescues are indie cats and kittens. We rescue adult cats in distress (road accident victims, electrocution and other trauma victims), take up their medical care, sterilize them, vaccinate them against rabies. If the adult cats are incapable of fending for themselves, we get them adopted. We also rescue kittens where the mother is missing; foster them until they reach age 6 weeks or so, and then get them adopted.” says G Bindu Rao, co-founder of Hold My Paws.
People interested in adopting the cats need to fill a form for screening. Post this, the team reaches out to them to assess the potential pet parents and guide them with the nuances and responsibilities of having a cat as a pet.
“Once we are confident that the interested person is responsible and will take good care of their pet, we proceed with adoption. We share photos and can arrange video calls or home visits for the cats in our foster care,” says Bhargavi Ramanathan, another, co-founder of Hold My Paws.
Hold My Paws does not charge anything for adoption. Their volunteer fosterers bear the cost of fostering which includes food, expenses etc.
Where it all began
The friends were members of a volunteering non-profit organisation that worked for rescuing feline friends of the city. However, they felt that there were other efficient ways of working towards the cause.
Thus, in 2020, they broke away from the organisation to build Hold My Paws.
“We were actually meme page for cats in the initial days. Then we organised our first virtual adoption camp in December 2020. Its success inspired the second adoption camp in 2021 and the rest you can see for yourself,” says Bindu.
The bootstrapped organisation has collaborated with CUPA, Royal Canin, Samarpan foundation, hospitals like TrustiVet Pet Hospital (Jeevanahalli, Bengaluru), Bozo Wags Veterinary Hospital and Pet Services (Yelenahalli, Bengaluru), HOPE Veterinary Clinic (Hennur, Bengaluru), V-Care Pet Polyclinic (Koramangala, Bengaluru) and many Good Samaritans of the city who relate to their vision and mission: to make Bengaluru a safe place for cats.
Other team members: Sanjana V, Pratima Rao and Rithikha Kalidos
“Our 46-member strong team consists of passionate cat lovers with in-depth knowledge of cat welfare, diseases affecting cats, etc. We have compiled resources and can direct people to home vets, vets in their areas, other animal welfare groups, and assistance to take care of pets for families affected by Covid, etc,” Bindu adds.
However, Hold My Paws had to overcome its own set of challenges.
“As with any volunteer organization, we are a small group of people trying to correct a large social problem. We are resource-strapped and we use our precious free time towards this cause, sacrificing bandwidth. We sometimes feel taken for granted because adopters may expect instant responses, faster screenings and others,” says Bhargavi.
One of the biggest blows for the team was the untimely demise of the heart and soul of Hold My Paws, Arathi Rao in 2021 due to Covid complications. Arathi was well known among the animal welfare circles of the city.
“To be honest, there was no one like her that I have met before. She would go above and beyond to help animals. Even now, we have people who come to us saying that they knew Arathi. But at the end of the day, the satisfaction of improving cat welfare keeps us going,” says an emotional Bindu.
Message from the team
“A city that is kind to stray animals is good for everyone. Adoption by itself isn’t enough and its needs to paired with neutering street cats and vaccinating them to keep their population healthy. Show some love to our indie cats! Feed, vaccinate and neuter the cats in your community. And if you have houseroom, adopt an indie cat or three! They’ll bring so much joy to your life,” Bhargavi concludes.
