How Arya R and Aditya Venkatraman are transforming street animal care in Chennai

For some, loving animals begins as a childhood memory. For Arya R, it became a quiet but defining purpose. The daughter of celebrated dancer Anita Ratnam, Arya grew up around dogs, but it was only in recent years that her relationship with animals deepened into active welfare work. Today, alongside long-time street animal rescuer Aditya Venkatraman, she is part of J.A.W.Z. (JD’s Animal Welfare Zone), a non-profit veterinary and animal birth control clinic in Adyar dedicated to the care, treatment, and sterilisation of street animals.

From rescue work to a full-fledged welfare clinic

While Arya prefers to stay away from the spotlight, her passion for animal welfare comes through in every conversation. “Adopting Bonita changed my life,” she says about the rescued dog she brought home during the pandemic. Bonita, abandoned by her previous owners and later rescued by an NGO, introduced Arya to the realities of pet abandonment and the urgent need to adopt rather than shop for breed dogs. “She taught me responsibility, compassion, and motherhood,” Arya reflects.

Her second dog, Rocky—an Indie rescued from the streets—further shaped her understanding of community animal care. Through him came a stronger focus on feeding, sterilisation, and advocating for the rights of street animals to coexist peacefully within urban spaces.

At the heart of this work is J.A.W.Z., named after Aditya’s late Labrador, Jack Daniel. Before starting the clinic, Aditya spent more than a decade rescuing injured street animals while balancing a corporate career. Eventually, the growing demand for rescue work and animal care led him to leave the corporate world and dedicate himself to animal welfare full-time.

“We’ve always lived with dogs,” says Aditya. “When I rescued my Labrador from a breeder, I started seeing the contrast between the life he had and the struggles faced by street animals. That pushed me to do more.”

What began as a small clinic to treat rescued dogs and cats gradually evolved into a full-fledged veterinary facility. Today, J.A.W.Z. functions as a low-cost veterinary clinic and rescue centre, carrying out animal birth control surgeries, vaccinations, and treatments for injured street animals. Since its inception, the clinic has completed thousands of sterilisation procedures for dogs and cats across Chennai.

For Aditya, sterilisation remains the single most effective solution to managing street animal populations humanely. Today, the clinic is regarded as a safe and dependable centre for spay-and-neuter surgeries for community animals.

“When you sterilise and vaccinate animals, you reduce unwanted births, territorial fights, and the spread of diseases such as rabies. Human-animal conflict also comes down significantly,” he explains. “Animal birth control is the need of the hour.”

The work extends beyond surgeries. The team conducts vaccination drives in neighbourhoods across the city. The clinic also works closely with caregivers and feeders who help monitor community animals after treatment and sterilisation.

Their message is simple: lasting change begins not with removing animals from public spaces, but with caring for them responsibly, ensuring they are vaccinated, sterilised and allowed to live healthier lives within the communities they already call home.

—manuvipin@newindianexpress.com

@ManuVipin

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