Dr. Raja Rajan

“I have 58 dogs at a space that I am currently using as a shelter.” This is how the conversation starts with Dr. Rajarajan who is extremely passionate about animals and the proof is in the number of rescues he has adopted, and it seems to be growing.Dr. Rajan (as he is known) completed his graduation from Madras Veterinary College in 2012. He worked for a year before doing his masters in small animal orthopedics in 2017 from the same college. He has been working at Cessna Lifeline since 2017 where, he spent 9 months of his 3 years in night duty work and this he says really helped him get well-trained with emergency cases. Now he is working in the OPD and on emergency surgeries. “India needs surgical oncology. We see many cases come through that need specialization in this space.” Says Dr. Rajan when talking about what he’d like to see develop more in the veterinary medicine field in India. Dr. Rajan is very interested in small animal orthopedics and general surgery but is looking forward to learning more in the space of advanced surgeries. “Initially I had 10-12 dogs at home. Since a capping took place, we moved them to a shelter until we were able to find a space to house them. Now, I have 4 dogs at home and 58 at the makeshift shelter I have created for them” says Dr. Rajan who spends most of his free time caring for these rescues. Looking at the situation that India is facing currently, Dr. Rajan only wishes for everyone to be responsible. “Be a responsible pet parent, responsible Indian and wear your mask at all times.”