Amidst the calm countryside the Friendicoes SECA Gurgaon Animal Sanctuaryis a cacophony of sounds. From the neighing horses to the purring cats, braying donkeys to barking dogs, there’s always background score to everything that goes on. On Friday, the sound of eager footsteps and happy conversations joined this musical menagerie as Friendicoes hosted ‘CVent’ at the sanctuary.
Cvent provides integrated technology solutions for virtual events. Their generous donation has helped the animals at the sanctuary immensely. They have helped us in building twelve stables for retired police horses, six stables for blind horses with their food and treatment, twenty cages for treatment of injured dogs and the construction of five cemented pools for the dogs to beat the summer heat. Not only this, they have helped us with the Covid-19 feeding programme for stray animals, their medical treatments, Animal Birth control Programme and distribution of collars for in-house dogs along with their food and medication.
On the 26th of November, the doors of the sanctuary were opened for fifty employees of the company. They were taken on a guided tour of the facility. The children and adults were equally enthralled by the number of animals under our care, not just dogs and cats but also horses, goats, pigs, donkeys, sheep and even camels. They were shown the different facilities for treatment, care and rehabilitation. The kids especially enjoyed meeting the baby goats and spent a long time playing with them.
One of the highlights of the day was the inauguration of the new stables which was made possible by Cvent’s generous contribution. Mrs. Geeta Seshamani, Founder Director, Friendicoes SECA and Mr. Anupam Arun, Country Head, Cvent cut the ribbon and opened up the doors of the stables for eighteen horses. This was followed by a book sale. Hundreds of titles, donated by our well-wishers were up for sale, the proceeds from which would directly benefit the animals. The children enjoyed the collection of children’s books and gushed over some of the titles by their favourite author, Geronimo Stilton.
Cheenikhor, a boutique bakery, provided Friendicoes with delicious, vegan and gluten free cakes for a bake sale. These irresistible cakes were supplemented by many more by Mr. Kartick Satyanarayan and they were enjoyed by one and all. Mr. Arun Vohra of Threads Inc. generously donated beautiful garments for fundraising. The visitors poured over these books, cakes and garments as they shared their experience of visiting the sanctuary and meeting all the wonderful animals here.
It was a lovely change from the work from home set up since Covid-19 and showed them how much of a difference their generous donation has made in the lives of hundreds of animals. They were happy to see the vast open areas where the animals roam free, the kind and caring caretakers and met the beautiful and gentle animals who deserve a life of happiness, peace and love.The children, especially, were in awe and promised to visit us more often and we were happy to see their love and kindness towards these gentle beings with whom they share the earth.
The event for us was a great success and we were happy to share our experiences and journey with Cvent. The task of caring for animals is riddled with many struggles but kind donors like Cvent, Cheenikhor and Threads Inc. help us in our goal of providing the animals with a safe haven where they can live their lives with freedom and happiness.
