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Jul 13, 2014 News
“It’s like, I know what it felt like to be unloved, unwanted and uncared for … this helped me discover my passion for helping animals, and not only discover my passion, but explore every possibility where I can help them.”
By Dennis A. Nichols
The idea of being ‘special’, in the context of this article, is not necessarily the preserve of those only who have achieved
national prominence at a specific job or made some great contribution to society. Indeed a special person may be a child prodigy or a youthful entrepreneur, or even someone whose only claim to distinction is his or her innate benevolence and compassion for the less fortunate. Such is the case with this week’s special person, Genevieve ‘Judy’ Beepat.
Often, the less fortunate or those in greatest need, are people – human beings existing on the fringes of society. We know them. They are the homeless, the destitute, the abandoned, the unloved and the unlovable. But sometimes these marginalized and outcast creatures are not humans; they are animals, many of which were once cared for as loved and loving pets; others have suffered as pariahs from birth. But whether one or the other, they have a friend in the person of this personable and attentive young woman from the East Coast Demerara village of Lusignan.
Miss Beepat who was born in Georgetown, (North East La Penitence to be exact) on August 15th 1981, said she was drawn to sick, abandoned and uncared-for animals, partly because she herself had felt the effects of loss and abandonment following the separation of her parents when she was just two years old. She and her two sisters went to live with her grandparents who had three children of their own, in Lusignan, and she has been there ever since.
She declared that growing up with her grandparents in the village was a very challenging period in her life as they were quite poor, with her grandmother being a vendor at Bourda Market while her grandfather worked as a security guard. Both are now deceased. The family situation was compounded by the fact that one of her sisters, born with a disability, had to be especially cared for, and was subsequently sent to the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre on Carmichael Street where she grew up before marrying and starting a family of her own.
Miss Beepat first attended the Lusignan Primary School. Then after writing the Secondary Schools Entrance Examination in 1992, she went to the Cove and John Hindu College. But due to the financial situation at home, she explained, her grandmother could not afford to keep her there, so she was forced to return to the primary school in her village. However it was not long before she had to drop out of school at the age of 14, after which she stayed at home and helped her grandparents with housework.
With respect to her love of animals and their care, she affirmed that since she was very small, she always had pets and always felt a connection to them, particularly cats and dogs. She added that this was no doubt due to her own experiences, to the extent that she felt she was ‘one of them’ and empathized with the plight of the unwanted ones.
“It’s like, I know what it felt like to be unloved, unwanted and uncared for … this helped me discover my passion for helping animals, and not only discover my passion, but explore every possibility where I can help them,” she articulated.
Continuing in that vein, she recalled, “Growing up without parents is what started me off, because a part of me is still empty; you know what it’s like … and I guess that is what really drew me to animals; they love you so unconditionally. It’s rare you would find your own human beings like that. It goes right down to my heart and soul. It’s real. I feel what they feel.”
As if to drive the point home about her dedication and care, she showed me on her cell phone camera, a composite picture of a dog before and after her intervention. The juxtaposition is dramatic. One shows a skeletal dingy-looking white dog which she says, was suffering from cancer; the other a sleek, healthy animal with a gleaming white coat.
Although she has loved and cared for animals all her life, it was only about three years ago that Miss Beepat was really able to define, and embark on, her true mission, which she affirms, is to help save animals above everything else. And this is just what she has been doing since then. She says that one of her main concerns is the fate of animals which are either too sick or just unwanted, and have to be euthanized. So she has been doing whatever she can to save such animals from being ‘put to sleep.’
Like many animal rights activists, she understands that certain steps taken by pet/animal owners may prevent, or greatly lessen, the chances of suffering or being abandoned to the point where euthanization is the only option to put them out of their misery. One of these steps, she reminds, is to have pets spayed or neutered as a method of birth control, and of course, to prevent overpopulation.
Miss Beepat noted that many animals and pets simply suffer from lack of care by their owners, followed by abandonment, because they do not have the time and patience, or the resources to look after them properly. The result is that in many instances animals are just dumped, usually on the streets. Puppies and kittens are just thrown out, some in boxes, she said, adding that some people, when told that they should have their pets spayed or neutered, would point out that ‘it is bad because you would have to cut the animal’ and then
ask her if she would like anyone to do that to her.
She responds to their concerns in two ways. First, she explains to them that the actual procedure is a simple surgery from which the animal recovers in a day. To their second concern, her response is, “Fine, if I’m making babies and they have to end up in the streets, or in the orphanage, or I can’t take care of them – I can’t feed them or clothe them, then sure, you spay me!” She says this without a hint of facetiousness and adds that too often people see animals as ‘just animals’ not knowing, or forgetting, the love and loyalty they show to their owners.
Often, Miss Beepat can be seen with the two cat boxes and kennel in which she places the sick and abandoned cats and dogs she picks up on the streets. She pointed out that these items have been lent to her by her friend and fellow animal rights advocate, Syeada Manbodh, who, among other things, has been raising awareness of animal abuse and the fate of unwanted creatures by publicizing these issues, in letters to newspaper editors over the past several years. She is also grateful for the assistance and encouragement from another animal lover, Soraya Arjune, who also assists in these efforts.
Miss Beepat told me that she usually uses mini buses as a means of transporting sick and injured animals to the Guyana Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) Animal Clinic on Robb Street, where they are seen by veterinarian, Dr. Nicholas Waldron, or to Dr. Nardeo, who operates Pet Paradise on Sheriff Street. After diagnosis, animals are given medical treatment and/or sterilization surgery, but also may be euthanized.
She added that sometimes the mini bus operators refuse to accommodate her and her charges because, they say, the cats and dogs are too sick, smelly or mangy. Then, she then has to resort to using taxis, sometimes at her own expense. But she is quick to add that she gets donations and other forms of assistance from a variety of sources, including fellow activists such as Ms. Manbodh and online friends at the social networking site, Facebook. She is thus able to continue her humanitarian work, using her home in Lusignan as a base, a modest wooden cottage ‘guarded’ by her five pet dogs – Creamy, Daisy, Gentle, Ginger and Star.
She says that Gentle, the Dachshund rescued from the Better Hope/Plaisance area was suffering from cancer when she took her in, and hadn’t eaten in three weeks. She had to be force-fed with a syringe, after which she started to improve and eventually won her battle with the disease through medication and chemotherapy. Another one, Creamy, the only male, was practically a skeleton when she took him in, but he is now a strong, obviously healthy animal, and, as noted before, she has the before and after pictures to prove it.
Because she is not a veterinarian, Miss Beepat says there isn’t much she can do at her home, medically, for sick or injured animals, especially when she has them over the weekend, during which time the Animal Clinic is closed. (After 1:00 p.m. on Saturday) Nevertheless, she adds, they can be given over-the-counter pain-killers or antibiotics, but often, what they need just as much as medication is the love and care she bestows on them. In these situations she would often call on Ms. Manbodh, who has a vehicle and other resources she doesn’t have, to assist her especially with the bigger animals.
Touching on financial resources, our special person reiterates her lack of funds, but notes that there are other sources of help and encouragement, one of which is her church and her Christian faith, supplemented by her own resourcefulness, such as a fund-raising Hot Dog Sale held at her place of worship, the Lusignan Baptist Church. Sometimes she and other volunteers, particularly Ms. Manbodh, in encouraging persons to have their animals spayed or neutered, would ask them to come up with at least a part of the fee for this procedure, and they would supply the rest of it.
Miss Beepat seems to have few other interests apart from her humanitarian work and her church; however she intimated that she loves cooking, and works periodically with her uncle, a businessman, in Enmore. She added that she is now enjoying a period of vacation, and has a bit more time to spend with her five dogs and five cats at home. Living alone with animals she admits, has caused some people to question her state of mind, but she brushes that off with the assurance that she is doing what she likes.
One of her favourite quotes is ‘God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things’ and Miss Beepat believes that she can be such a person, despite some of the negative experiences in her life.
Although she admits she presently lacks the support and resources for her passion, she nevertheless has plans to expand her animal rights activism work, and maybe venture into the field of veterinary medicine.
“It’s all in here,” she says, tapping her head. But in the end, she declares, “It’s not about me, it’s not about recognition or competition, but whatever I do, it’s for the sake of creatures that have been hurt and abandoned, and also for the glory of God. I just want to see people being kind and compassionate to animals. And that, whichever way you look at it, is special.
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