A two-acre animal shelter housing 500 rescued dogs was inaugurated today as India's first Net Zero animal welfare facility, following an energy design intervention by Bootes Infrastructure Ltd.
The facility was inaugurated by Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, former Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Government of India.
"Kindness and compassion are what make the world go round," Smt. Lekhi said at the inauguration. "Indian culture has always held both the animal and the environment in respect — they are not separate obligations for us, they are one. This Net Zero shelter brings together seva and Indian engineering. It stands with the Prime Minister's vision of a Net Zero India, and it shows that the commitment can begin with the most voiceless among us. My congratulations to the entire team."
The shelter is operated by the Wagging Tales Foundation. Bootes Infrastructure Ltd, India's first Net Zero engineering company, delivered the energy design that has taken the facility to net zero — an acre of solar generation combined with a substantial reduction in the building's heat load.
Cooling and lighting have been extended to the areas where they matter most for animal welfare: the operation theatre, the treatment area, the section housing paralysed and immobile dogs, and the administrative block. Animals unable to move themselves out of the heat are now housed in temperature-controlled conditions through the Delhi-NCR summer.
Ms. Malvika, who heads the shelter, said the change had been felt on two fronts. "Our electricity bill has come down substantially, and for a shelter running on donations that money goes straight back into food, medicines and treatment," she said. "But the pride is the bigger thing. Our shelter is now supporting the environment as well as the animals in it — seva and the best engineering solution, together in one place."
"An animal that cannot walk cannot walk into the shade," said Mr. Deepak Rai, Founder and Managing Director of Bootes Infrastructure Ltd. "That is the whole argument for cooling a shelter. We have built net zero libraries and museums for the public; this is the first time we have built one for animals, and it may be the one we are most glad to have done."
Bootes Infrastructure Ltd has previously delivered the world's first Net Zero library at Jhansi, the Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya and Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi, and holds IFC-EDGE Advanced certification from the World Bank Group.
The two organisations said the facility is intended as a working model that other animal shelters in India can study and adapt.
