What many people dismiss as “strays,” Vartika Sahani sees simply as regular visitors. The Gurugram-based AI marketer keeps the gates of her Sector 55 home open to homeless dogs and cattle, welcoming them as part of her daily routine. Her mornings begin at 5:30 am, when cows gather outside her house, lining up patiently for their daily meal.
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“They know where to find kindness, wholesome food with a sense of safety and it is truly a beautiful sight to wake up to,” Sahani says.
While relocating from Kuwait to India in the mid-2000s, Sahani witnessed a stray dog critically injured in a road accident. The dog’s newborn puppies were left to fend for themselves on the streets of Delhi, where they died one by one, eventually succumbing to starvation. The incident left a profound impact on Sahani, transforming her empathy for animals into a lifelong commitment to caring for those without a home.
“Taking care of animals is not a hobby and requires a similar emotional connection as any other human being,” Sahani adds.
She has never looked back since then, after countless feedings, rescuing and providing emergency support for hundreds of injured animals.
Unlike others who fear or shy away from helping wounded roadside strays and cattle, Sahani always extends a helping hand by either administering first aid on the go or driving them to hospitals in her car. Back home, strays in Sector 55 recognise her car as a feeding station on the wheels.
But her journey from an animal lover to caretaking eight strays, who find Sahani’s home a resting pod, is filled with financial challenges and a little administrative support. “It can be taxing for individuals who have just started to help animals by spending their hard-earned savings on injections, medicines and food. My message to them is just hang in there.”
Her service has brought an entire community of the residents’ welfare association (RWA) in Sushant Lok-II to raise funds for vaccinating strays.
Sector 55’s RWA President Vinita Sinha says the society takes care of sterilising stray dogs. “We live in an open-plotted area and each lane has a guardian who takes care of feedings and vaccinations. It is a collective responsibility and Sahani is a shining example of an ecosystem that encourages people to come forward,” Sinha says.
The RWA keeps organising monthly discussions to clear misconceptions about dogs of Indie breeds and how hating them is looking away from the problem of street menace.
Meanwhile, Sahani has kept her door open for cattle and dogs to cool down in extreme weather, proving that kindness, once given, always finds its way back home.
