From May onwards, we have been introducing you to all the people who work hard to make the GSPCA philosophy of universal friendship and animal welfare a reality, featuring one person a month.

Ever since I met Arvind D'Souza in April 2000, he's been building something or the other. His eldest daughter was only four months old then, but along with fellow architect, Clem DeSylva, and wife Nita (also an architect), she toddled gamely into the PFA shelter in Panjim to research animal surgeries!

In October 2001, when Arvind started up the construction of our Torda hospital, little did Clem and I know that back home he was laying the foundation for another game toddler. Here is with month old Tarini, and Maia.

And here he is outside his other beautiful creation, with co-architect, Clem, and supervisor Pradeep.

Jack, as he is affectionately called, moved from Mumbai to Goa nine years ago, in search of a better quality of life. He began by buying up a completely dilapidated old Goan house, and then reconstructing it, stone by loving stone, into a beautiful dream home in Pilerne, featured on Zee TV.

His deep understanding of dog behaviour, based on an intimate knowledge of his own Bruno and Pepper, backed by a down to earth approach, helped us with several new and cost effective ideas to make our inmates more comfortable.

Jack and Nita were also closely involved with the construction of the Goa Marriott. The distance from a five star hotel to a shelter for ownerless animals can be a long one, but not if you are Arvind D'Souza. Just ask Sheba and Kitty, two strays who came in to be sterilised, but keep coming back each time we take them to the place we picked them up. "The GSPCA is our Marriott", is their excuse!