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The
Socrates Oliver Veterinary Hospital
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| Socrates
Oliver Veterinary Hospital |
The
late Mr Socrates Oliver |
A
PERFECT PLACE FOR ANIMAL TREATMENT!
 That's
how the Herald described the Socrates Oliver
Veterinary Hospital which was inaugurated at Torda
on March 15, a very special day for all of us
at the Goa SPCA.
For the detailed story, double click on the picture
on the right.
 Amidst
all the tension surrounding the Ayodhya dispute that
day, a bandh call that was subsequently abandoned, and
soaring midday temperatures, the inaugural function
began with the blessing of the hospital, its staff,
equipment and all the workers who built it, by the parish
priest, Fr Fernandes, followed by a mass at St
Sebastian Chapel celebrated by Fr Monteiro.(Left:Mr
Leslie de Souza giving the welcome address)
 The
opening ceremony on the site itself began with a haunting
shloka recital on the flute by Rajiv Raja, after
which Marie Paul accompanied by Prabhakar
Mundkur on the guitar and Rajiv, set the tone for
the evening with an unforgettable rendition of "Colours
of the Wind". Click
here for the lyrics.
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| A
rapt audience! |
Friendship,
by sheer coincidence, was the theme of both the speeches
delivered.
Deputy
Speaker of the Goa State Assembly, Shri Ulhas Asnodkar,
who cut the ribbon, urged people to treat animals as
friends and to assist in the animal welfare movement.
"Animals play an important role in our lives and
everyone should spread awareness about prevention of
cruelty to animals", he said.
 Later,
Lynn de Souza, Goa SPCA Chairman, said that there
was just one thing that she would like the Goa SPCA
to stand for - and that was "universal friendship",
one that cuts across all forms of life. Animal activism,
sterilisation, the problem of strays etc can only be
placed in their right context if the basis is a deep
seated respect for the interconnectedness of nature,
rather than the erroneous belief that any form of life,
whether animal or human, is more valuable than another.
She argued that differentiating between one form of
life and another is what leads to undesirable discrimination
in other walks of life such as between races, religion,
castes and gender.(Top: Shri Ulhas
Asnodkar and Lynn de Souza)
To
exemplify the point, she requested the daughters of
the architects along with Padma Shri Norma Alvares,
Juanita de Souza, Goa SPCA Trustee, and Gerry
Soares of Torda, to light the traditional lamp -
as symbols of womanhood across the ages, mother nature,
and the opportunities that now allow women, once discriminated
against, to flourish and contribute to society. The
lighting of the lamp was accompanied by Marie doing
a poignant rendition of "Born Free".
Click
here for the lyrics.
Looking on - M Nagwekar, Sarpanch, U Asnodkar, Dy
Speaker, and A Nageshkar, Mg Trustee) |
 After
which, the guests - comprising a motley list of animal
welfare workers, government officials, creative professionals
from Mumbai, village gentry, and friends and family
- rushed up in two groups following architects, Clem
DeSylva and Arvind D'Souza, to check out
the offices, OPD, surgery, shelters, aviary etc. (Left:
Col. Nageshkar giving the vote of thanks)
Goa
SPCA's very first TV commercial, created by Kajal
Srinivasan entirely with computer graphics, was
also revealed. Click
here to download and view.
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| The
Surgery and Ambulance |
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| The
Shelters |
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| People
visiting the Hospital |
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| The
Aviary |
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| The
Ribbon cutting |
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| The
two Warli Artists |
Click
here for more photographs.....
Donations
in cash or kind for the running of the hospital, sterilisation
of stray animals, and provision of food and medicines
to the inmates, will be accepted with gratitude. All
monetary donations are exempt from income tax under
Section 80G of the Income Tax Act..
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