Untitled Document

DEAR LUCKY

REEL PETS

TRAVEL

DESIGN

EVENTS

PETPOURRI

AF CARES

One Woman's Mission
How You Can Help
Chitra Besbroda

Chitra with a junkyard dog named Rabbit. Rabbit has been rescued and placed in a wonderful home in Massachusetts.

For the last 25 years Chitra Besbroda has been caring for homeless animals, bringing them into her home, tending to them in the abandoned lots and back alleys of New York City, and arranging adoptions for a lucky few. To date she has worked with upwards of 3,500 animals including dogs, cats, birds and reptiles.

Her mission began as a one-woman show. She often spent her own savings on food and care for the animals she found, and has even sold personal possessions to raise extra money to help support their needs. "I need to step in," says Besbroda. "I have to do it."

It took some time, but she finally raised enough money to rent a 300 square-foot storefront on Manhattan's Upper West Side which she turned into a shelter for the animals she loves. Sentient Creatures, as she named it, didn't have much luck in its new locale.

Shortly after she moved in, Besbroda was notified that her lease would not be renewed. Come September, the 12 dogs and 11 cats she harbored will be evicted.

"My heart is broken," Besbroda says of the landlord's verdict. Money is tight and Besbroda estimates she will need $5,000 a month to house, feed and care for the animals. She hopes, however, to raise $1 million to buy a suitable permanent home for Sentient Creatures.

Besbroda is only half joking when she makes an open offer to financier and real estate mogul Donald Trump to donate a building for her cause. She even offers to name it, 'Trump Tower for Dogs.'

Barring an extraordinary gesture from Trump, Besbroda is hoping that donations from caring individuals will help to rescue her shelter and save her needy animals. "Sentient Creatures will carry on," she says.

To make a tax-deductible donation or to adopt one of Besbroda's adorable animals, call Sentient Creatures at 212-865-5998 or write to them at Sentient Creatures, Inc. P.O. Box 765 Cathedral Station, New York, NY 10025.