Theruvoram Murugan's humanitarian nature and social service activities are well known but not many know that he is an animal lover too.He says his bond with animals began when his family was living in Peerumedu, Idukki, virtually in the middle of the forest. His dad was a watchman and they had this dog named Tommy. "I was very small then but I have vivid memories of how, after dinner, we would call Tommy to give him his food. He would come running, from the dark. He was an Indian dog and I was really attached to him."He goes on to add: "I have always felt a kind of empathy for street dogs. I don't remember when exactly I started feeding them," says Murugan, who has spent part of his life as a street child. "While living in Rail Nagar colony, I had this dog, again, a streetie, who was so intelligent that he would fetch milk packets without causing any damage. A vehicle hit him once and the doctor didn't have much hope. But I got a surgery done and he was saved."Long before animal lovers' groups became organised and visible in the State, Murugan would pick up injured and sick dogs from the streets and take care of them. "I remember this beautiful white dog which I found once, around 2002. It had been abandonded by its owners since it was old and I nursed it back to health. I knew only a handful of people who would rescue and re-home animals back then."Once he got to meet other animal lovers in the city, he started getting seriously involved in rescue missions. "I was inspired by this animal lover called Aswini Prem from Kochi, and have now built a cage at my home where I keep sick or injured animals." Murukan currently owns a streetie of his own, named 'Jimmykuttan'. "He was rescued from the streets and I also feed quite a few other street dogs."So, as a rare combination of a humanitarian and animal lover, what does he have to say about animal lovers being branded anti-human these days? "Actually I have never thought much about it, it has always been about saving lives for me, it doesn't matter if the life is that of a human or an animal. If I eat three meals a day, I should try to feed ten, and they can be humans, dogs, cats, or even goats or birds."Real humanity begins when you start caring about all lives, he says. "How is it possible to ignore an injured being, if you have an element of humanity in you? We are the ones who have created laws declaring that human lives are more important than that of animals. In the eyes of God, all lives are equal."And it is hypocritical on the part of the so called 'humanitarians' to focus solely on killing street dogs while ignoring the homeless people on the streets, he feels. "Why are there so many humanitarians who go after dogs but none for saving humans? I think a lot of their dog killing drives are publicity stunts," he says.Instead of creating animal vs human fights, we should aim at co-existence, is what Murugan says. "We teach our children to throw stones at street dogs and they in turn become hostile towards humans. I have made sure that my son grows up interacting with animals and loving them." And above all, he says, animals teach you compassion. "I have noticed that when you spend time with animals the cruelty and anger in you dissolve. It has to be experienced to be believed."

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