Helping animals,helping humanity

Do you actually care about animals? Or, are you really helping stray animals in need? If yes, then you need to rethink about it. Bhargsetu Sharma, a social worker, humanitarian, and internet sensation, has redefined the meaning of animal care, animal welfare, and animal rescue. Sharma believes in the concept of ‘co-exist’—where animals and humans live together and equally. Her love for animals has inspired her to build a community all over India, which she named 'Humans with Humanity,' and now her success has touched international heights. She currently works as a project coordinator for a CSR project at Elixir India, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Corporate Citizen brings you her extraordinary journey of rescuing stray animals

The bond that Bhargsetu shares with stray animals is special. She seamlessly pours her love and trust into the animals without hurting them. She grew up watching her father Vipul Sharma and her grandparents, Gulab bhai Sharma and Hemlata Sharma, take care of animals, so her love for animals developed naturally. However, an incident that happened when she was in 10th standard, gave her the objective of her existence—to help the helpless animals. She recalls, “Around 13 years ago, I saved some puppies who were insensitively thrown by my neighbours, wherein I took the help of police and an NGO. When we were able to get those puppies back safely, I took a sigh of relief. This made me realise the meaning of our existence as humans—we have to co-exist with animals.”

Team humanitarians

Bhargsetu established her NGO, 'Humans with Humanity' with her eight friends,from her society and school. Gradually, the team expanded to 80 people till 2019 in Vadodara, Gujarat. However, entering into the television reality show MTV Roadies Real Heroes, gave a boost to her passion for animal welfare. She recalls, “I was invited by the show as a hero, and my video telling about my work for animal welfare went viral on the internet. Due to which more people approached me, and today we are a team of more than 3000 humanitarians working voluntarily to protect the voiceless beings." Over a decade now, the team has expanded to more than 18 cities with active volunteers. Till date, informs Bhargsetu, she and her team have rescued more than 5800 animals, including some wild animals.

The unbreakable bond

Animals feel comfortable and safe around Bhargsetu. For her, understanding the behaviour of animals before approaching them is extremely important. "Whenever I’m dealing with any animal, I know that they are more in need than me. Even if they are aggressive or attacking, I know that they have bad experience with humans or they are in pain and they are just saving themselves," she says. She does not fear their bite, but patiently does her work. She starts treating the animals after gaining their trust and making them comfortable.

To understand the animal psychology and work accordingly for their welfare, is very important for Bhargsetu. Rather than bringing injured and needy stray animals into the shelter, she believes in treating them in their comfort place or territory. She expresses, “My definition of animal love is to not traumatise them at any cost, even if they are hurt or they are dying. The basic animal theory says that they are very territorial and panic if we take them away from their territory." Treating the animals at their place, she says, helps them heal faster, and the feeling of compassion among the people also arises. “I don't want to change the world; I want people to help me be the change,” she adds.

Empowering the volunteers

Bhargsetu has created a three-month-long training course for the volunteers joining the organisation. Prior to handling injured stray animals on the field, the volunteers undergo four phases of training - study of animal behaviour, first aid for animals, animal handling, and in the fourth phase they learn about the right treatment and right food to be given to the animals.

Self-funded NGO

For last 14 years, Bhargsetu has solely funded her NGO, ‘Humans with Humanity’, without taking a single penny of donation from anyone. She says, “Even if somebody wants to give us a donation, we deny. I earn and put my earnings, which comes from brand endorsements and other sources of income, in my organisation. I charge a hefty amount for my presence in any event and I utilise 100 per cent of that amount for the welfare of animals.” The volunteers working with her in the organisation also do not pay any amount. Even if there is a medical emergency with any animal, says Bhargsetu, she pays volunteers the money to treat that animal.

"Humans are inconsiderate about themselves and do not know their responsibility. This is the reason for naming our organisation Humans with Humanity— we are all humans, but we lack humanity"

— Bhargsetu Sharma

Rescue over recognition

In a world where people share pictures of doing social work on the internet, Bhargsetu and her team only focus on safely rescuing the animals. “I don’t feel right to put up stories or posts on social media while rescuing animals. And, I do not encourage my team to document the injured animals. Although we do have some pictures after the rescue for our own records," she says.

Utilising resources

Bhargsetu utilises government vaccination camps and schemes to the fullest for treating the stray animals. Her team call on the animal ambulance toll-free number 1962, to provide urgent medical aid to the injured animals. Every year on World Veterinary Day, they take the stray animals to the free vaccination camps conducted in all the government hospitals across the nation. Apart from the government aid, the NGO also has tie-ups with private veterinary doctors. “We pay them for the medication, and they help us with free treatment,” says Bhargsetu.

A home for strays

Instead of forcefully treating the animals, Bhargsetu believes in the concept of leaving the animal in its condition, if it is not in a state to cure. “The understanding of animal love, animal rescue, and animal welfare is very different from individual to individual. I would prefer to ask people to feed the animals in the area they live rather than taking that animal to their society or house,” she expresses. Bhargsetu has 10 stray animals in her house as pets, including four stray dogs in her parents’ house, two stray animals in her grandparents’ house, three are roaming around and taken care by her parents and a squirrel in the new house she shifted recently with her fiancé, Prem Dave, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Human responsibility

Animal cruelty, as Bhargsetu says, has been on the rise. “Humans are inconsiderate about themselves and do not know their responsibility. This is the reason for naming our organisation Humans with Humanity—we are all humans, but we lack humanity,” she expresses. Bhargsetu also mentioned that the laws regarding animal protection in our country are very weak. Offenders are only required to pay a fine of Rs 50 after killing an animal and are then released from jail. “We file police complaints against such people, and ask them to write a letter that they will not repeat this mistake again, and when they agree to take care of the injured animal, we withdraw the complaints. So, in this way we work on human psychology, and we have handled more than 500 such cases across India,” she informs.

Achievements and accolades

Bhargsetu’s dedication and determination in safeguarding the animals have taken her to international heights. She represented as Asia Lead in the World Youth Festival conducted in Russia, wherein she addressed the issues of environment, animal awareness, and community awareness for sustainability. Further, Bhargsetu is the first and only receiver of Raksha Mantri Padak in Gujarat state till date. She received the award at the hands of the then Defence Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, for saving the life of a drowning man in 2018.

Family support

Her family, Bhargsetu says, has been very supportive in this field. Being a single child, she has always been encouraged to do the maximum she can. Even her life partner is supporting her to take care of animals in her absence, she informs.