Birds, puppies, and kittens have a propensity for becoming caught in awkward locations. Additionally, individuals nearby may become traumatised by their calls for rescue. However, there are situations when regular people are unable to free an animal that is caught in a tree or on a roof. Why should abandoned pets endure pain while we enjoy our coffee? Is it due to their helplessness and misfortune? At Mylos, they want to offer them a chance to survive and prosper at Mylos.

Mylos Rescue was established with the goal of putting an end to the suffering of stray dogs in India. They have been saving dogs and providing food for stray dogs and other animals. The team is working to ensure the well-being of sick, injured, and abandoned animals.

Lakshmi Swaminathan, the organization’s founder, is regarded as one of the most caring animal advocates. She has worked tirelessly to rescue, neuter, and treat dogs in need. Mylos always strives to increase awareness and compassion, and change people’s attitudes while also promoting respect and kindness for all stray dogs. Team Petrons caught up with Mr. Kush Gupta, Secretary at Mylos rescue to understand the work done by the organisation better.

Mylo

“Well, Mylo was the first stray animal rescue we conducted. Hence, we thought of naming the organisation Mylos Rescue. But there is a deeper thought and emotion which was in our hearts when we laid down our vision and mission. Mylos also stands for My Loved Ones! We strongly believe that empathy and love are the only guiding light that can help us make each and every decision in our NGO.” Kush Gupta says.

There are times when the entire team is completely fatigued after non-stop work for more than 48-50 hours in a stretch but they still get up and go for a rescue or work on raising funds for their shelter or work on conducting their next sterilisation drive. It is only made possible by the love they hold in their hearts for all the animals of this country. For them, each and every animal is equal and they love each and every one of them.

The beginning

“Lakshmi, my co-trustee in Mylos had started rescuing stray animals from the streets of Bangalore in 2017. She had been operating independently and was housing about 70+ pups at her own home. On 20th December 2020, I met Lakshmi at her home and in an instant, we both formed the vision of ending stray animal suffering in India together. We both sat at the small dining table of our current temporary shelter and decided that this suffering needs to end in India!” he says.

On March 31, 2021, Mylos Rescue was registered as a public charitable trust with Lakshmi and Kush Gupta as lifelong permanent trustees. On the same day, they laid out their strategy to achieve their vision through a 5R model (Reduce Population, Rescue Always, Respond Fastest, Rehabilitate with Comfort and Robust Regulations) to be implemented in Bangalore and replicated across the country. 

It is a one-of-a-kind shelter built with a completely environmentally sustainable approach using alternative architectural techniques like eco-bricks for walls and naturally found stones for its foundation.

About the team 

Mylos is a young and passionate team of 35 members across various function under three major task forces: rescue operations, shelter operations and fundraising. The one and only factor that binds each team member together is their vision and purpose. 

Mylos is led, managed and guided by three trustees:

Lakshmi Swaminathan (President): She heads the rescue and shelter operations for Mylos Rescue. She runs her own web development company and is one of the most passionate animal rescuers in the city. 

Kush Gupta (Secretary): He owns the strategy, fundraising and general management for Mylos Rescue. His fundamental role is to ensure that Mylos has a clear, structured and achievable path laid out to achieve its vision. He is currently employed as Manager, Corporate Development at InMobi Group.

Dr Nagesh (Treasurer): Nagesh heads the entire medical backbone and runs his own veterinary hospital in Bangalore named Jeeva Pet Hospital. He is currently working towards implementing a 24×7 free vet hospital that will give free medical care to any stray animal rescue in the city.

Commitment towards stray dog rescue

Both Lakshmi Swaminathan and Kush Gupta saw the condition of stray animals on the streets of Bangalore as they first arrived at this city in their respective life journeys and they both had the same determination in their hearts that this suffering has to end. Hence, the first time they both met, their hearts were aligned perfectly, and both committed to the vision instantly.

The mixed reactions and pushbacks

They have always received mixed reactions across the long fabric of human society. They dealt with different sets of people mainly activists, supporters, and challengers. Activists are people who are highly inclined towards animal welfare and have a very strong voice to express their frustration about the various issues. Supporters mostly consist of moderates who see this suffering as a social and human issue that human society should own and solve. These set of people command a generous, accommodating and executive focussed voice and thereby helps the organisation chart a path towards their vision implementation. Challengers are a surprisingly high proportion of people who either don’t consider this a problem that they own or those who don’t believe that the strategy (of rescuing, shelter construction etc) is the right way to solve this problem and create mounting challenges for them and the team. 

Mylos Rescue believes that each type of citizen plays a role in the formulation of their strategy and execution towards their vision. 

The ups and downs

Kush admits that there are aspects which have been critical to the functioning of the organisation. People are the biggest lever and factor for any NGO to achieve its vision. While they initially thought that managing people will be very tough but the purpose has bound each and every team member in Mylos in such a way that it is a highly efficient and self-managed team. This has certainly come as a pleasant surprise to them.

While they always knew and believed that fundraising is going to be tough, they were presented with challenges that were not anticipated by them. Retail fundraising through social media channels or welfare platforms like Ketto, and Milaap has made fundraising extremely simple for organisations like them. This has made their fundraising appeals easy to donate to, creates inherent trust in their donors and helps them with a seamless updation process for their donors. This has made their lives very simple for smaller fundraising campaigns.

One of the biggest obstacles for them has been the inherent lack of collaboration in the non-profit space. They have had a very tough time rallying all the rescuers of Bangalore under one banner and cross-city, cross-state collaboration is even tougher. 

“We have had cases where an individual rescuer has impersonated a Mylo member and raised funds for stray animal rescues conducted by Mylos Team. While there have been positive social media efforts by Mylos to curb such activities, the sheer amount of time spent dealing with such cases has become an astonishing point for the entire Mylos Team,” Kush added.

The strays in Bengaluru

BBMP has determined that there are 9 lakh stray animals in Bengaluru Urban area. There is no set figure for Bengaluru Rural and the surrounding areas but government sources peg that number to be around 10-11 lakhs. So, in total there are around 20 lakhs stray animals in Bengaluru and surrounding areas.

It’s practically impossible to create shelters for all these stray animals since this is a moving target. The stray animal population is constantly reproducing at an alarming rate and hence, by the time we create shelters for all 20 lakh stray animals, this figure would have risen significantly.

Mylos also intends to conduct multiple mass sterilisation drives in a radially expanding fashion with their shelter at the centre. One of the major strategic initiatives is to end stray animal suffering in Bangalore. 

Key takeaways so far

The biggest learning for them from their journey till date has been that empathy is the only driving factor to end any kind of suffering in this world. “Only when you see every living being (including yourself) as equal, you can act with love towards each and every living being in the same way as you act towards yourself and your loved ones”, shares Kush.

The second and more orthogonal learning has been that without collaboration, this suffering will not end. The team realises that no organisation can become so big in a standalone manner that it can end this suffering singlehandedly.

The future of Mylos rescue

“Once our shelter construction is complete, we will focus on mass sterilisation drives to impactfully bring down the stray animal population under the 1st R of our strategy (reduce population). In the long term, we intend to replicate this model in Mumbai and subsequently in Delhi. We have already initiated talks with one of our highly trusted animal activists, rescuer & contributor to Mylos to become our co-trustee in Mumbai and handle operations there. We have also finalised the space where we will build our shelter & plan to launch its construction very soon,” reveals Kush.

Message to the readers

“The only element, fact & suggestion I would like the esteemed readers to think about is empathy, think about equality among all living beings and think about a life where you love each and everyone around you, be it a human or an animal or a plant. In that state of mind, I strongly believe you will understand what we are trying to do at Mylos and also lead a happy life like everyone at Mylos does,” Kush adds.