Seven-year-old girl from Mangaluru breaks piggy bank for strays

MANGALURU: Aadya U, a Class 2 student from DPS-MRPL School, decided to break her piggy bank and donate the savings of more than a year towards animal welfare. She handed over medicines and dressing materials worth Rs 700 to Tauseef Ahmed, founder, Mr Rescuer.
Aadya’s mother Archana, a homemaker, told TOI, “Last week, I was listening to a talk by Tauseef on Facebook. He spoke about the challenges in getting support, including finance, from the government for animal rescue acts. Aadya came up to me and asked what the activist was talking about? In simple words, I told her that he is finding it difficult to arrange for funds to help stray animals. She straight went into her room, picked up her piggy bank and gave it to us, saying, ‘Amma, I have lots of money, please give this box to him so that he can help the animals’. Touched by her gesture, we decided to donate her savings for the cause.”
Archana and her husband Uday, senior manager at MRPL, have been feeding strays for several years now. “We keep dropping Re 1, 2 or 5 coins to her piggy bank regularly, so she can collect Rs 500-1,000 in about a year. The lock of the piggy bank is opened days before her birthday to buy something she needs. When she turned 7 years on May 6 this year, we gifted her a cycle. We did not buy it using her money,” Archana said.
Instead of celebrating the day with the customary cake cutting, the family donated animal food to organisations working for animal welfare.
Tauseef praised the girl for her 'heart-touching gesture towards animals'. Recollecting another incident, he said, “My friend Nicola called me on her daughter Tia’s birthday as the little one wanted to donate food for animals. These kids give hope that our future may not be that dark. Thanks to such insightful parenting.”