The confrontation between the Noida Authority and volunteers at the animal shelter and hospital in Sector 94 (formerly run by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) over funding has intensified.

Animal welfare activists expressed their disappointment on Tuesday after they were not given time to meet Alok Tandon, CEO of Noida Authority, and R K Mishra, additional chief executive of the authority, to discuss the problem with funds for the animal shelter.

They said they were told that a discussion may be possible only after Dussehra. The shelter, earlier under the banner of SPCA, is being headed by the Noida Authority for the past three months. It houses over a thousand animals and its dedicated staff have not been paid for more than three months, the volunteers alleged.

Anuradha Dogra, an activist, claimed that it has been more than three months since funds were released by the Noida Authority to purchase food and medicines for the animals. “These are our foremost priority.

They have stopped paying salary to the staff which is bringing their morale down. The staff members are threatening to stop work. We have somehow managed to convince them but we are not sure how long they will stay,” Dogra said.

Around 1200 animals, including several paralysed stray dogs, cows and buffaloes live in the shelter. Half a dozen horses, many cats, monkeys, donkeys and several kinds of birds have also found space for themselves in the shelter.

Riti Sahai, an entrepreneur, said there is a dire need to renovate the shelter for the proper care of the animals. “There are two to three blind cows which are struggling for their life.

There is no proper arrangement for them. The conditions are not very hygienic manner despite the hard work of the staff. The whole shelter is crying out for renovation for which funds are needed, funds that have been curbed by the Noida Authority,” she added. Various attempts to contact Authority officials proved futile.

According to the group of activists, the Noida Authority took over the shelter from SPCA on the promise that they will take good care of the animals and introduce stateof-the-art equipment but after three months not a single penny has been allocated.

Sajal Srivastava, an IT professional and an active volunteer at the shelter, said, “We have approached various ministries in Uttar Pradesh and at the Centre but none has taken any action. Now they don’t even reply to our letters.

We are using different platforms to raise funds and urge people around us to donate goods for the animals. We have started requesting people to donate small amounts through PayTM which collectively will ensure food for the animals.”

A couple of paravets manage the shelter, treating the animals with skill and compassion, the actvists revealed, adding that the veterinarian posted by the Noida Authority makes an appearance only once or twice a week.

Jeetu, Ashok, Ram Lal and Rani are among the 54 ancillary staff members working at the shelter and have not been given their dues for the last three months.

“We came here from different places to earn a livelihood for our families. We could have worked at various sites as labourers or in other places but we chose to work here due to our love for animals.

But now our passion has been taken for granted by the Authority. Money is the basic need and motivation for any work. Slowly we are losing that motivation,” said Jeetu.