Sanjay Saha of Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer ‘Haddi’ opens up on his love for dogs: ‘They deserve a lot more’
August 26 marks International Dog Day and while this day celebrate our canine friends, they deserve to be loved and cherished every day. One such celebrity that actually agrees with this and actually implements it is producer Sanjay Saha. The Haddi producer feels for the furry species and personally works towards their well-being in his individual capacity.
But how did that love started? While responding to that, Sanjay shares, “My love for animals has been there from the very beginning. When I came to Mumbai in 2015 to start a career in production, I came across a lot of dogs on street who didn’t have any access to clean drinking water, let alone nutritious food. A lot of them didn’t have any food to even survive. They were barely surviving on garbage. That is something that really touched me and I felt like I had the responsibility as a citizen to help them out in whatever capacity I can. I’ve always been fortunate enough so why not share it with society.”
Sanjay’s journey started by feeding one stray dog in his neighbourhood named Mowgli, and it wasn’t just a one way street. “He was a very old, gentle dog and I learnt a lot from him. I learnt patience, how to deal with difficult situations and still have a smile on my face. Those are some of the things that Mowgli taught me as he was so old and helpless, yet he had the biggest smile on his face every time I went to feed him. So, that is how my journey with feeding strays started from. I started off by feeding Mowgli and slowly and steadily I started increasing it to other dogs that required food and water. So, on a daily basis I am feeding over 8 dogs in my neighbourhood,” he reveals.
The producer is very particular about his time with his canine friends and doesn’t like to delegate that work to anyone else. He insists, “I feel my time with my dogs is sacred. That really helps me reflect and think better. The more time I spend with them, it puts me in a much better place mentally. So, it’s also like a therapy to get a little away from work stress. It’s just you and your dog and it’s your whole world for one hour. So, I personally feed all my 8 dogs and 5 cats from 9-10 every night.”
Sanjay believes that as a human being, it’s our duty to help and empathise with those who can’t talk about their situation. He asserts, “Most of us, if not all of us, can contribute to the society in whatever capacity we can. It’s not necessary for us to donate thousands of rupees a month. Just one 10 rupee packet of biscuit can change a dog’s day and their whole entire world. So, if all of us just step ahead and do something for them, we can all live in a better world. I think the world needs a lot of love and this is a good way of showing that.”
He even has a long term plan from his end to make the world better for his furry friends. He informs, “In future, once I have my own team to take care of all these dogs, I would like to have a shelter for dogs that have been in accident cases or have been abandoned by families, especially for indie dogs. I feel that indie dogs are the best and the kindest of all breeds. So, I feel they deserve a lot more. Soon, I will be giving them what they deserve. An animal shelter is something on the cards in the near future and I hope to make my furry friends smile for as long as I can and to spread the love.”
