If you’ve lived in India long enough, you’ll know that we share our cities with a veritable Noah’s Ark of creatures: cows at traffic junctions, squirrels in your electrical wiring, pigeons who’ve colonized every windowsill, and street dogs who guard their chosen gully with a dedication unmatched by even your most loyal watchman.

There’s something about the Indian summer that makes you feel like you’ve stepped inside an oven that forgot it was supposed to stop at 250 degrees. The sun hangs in the sky like a personal grudge. And somewhere, under the skeletal shade of a parked car or curled up beside a rusting box is a panting stray dog trying to make peace with the sun.

In summer, these animals are as vulnerable as we are, if not more. The difference is that you have a fridge, a fan, and the ability to whine about the heat. They don’t. Indian summer is not subtle. While we crank up our ACs, sip our shikanji, and complain on Instagram, countless creatures suffer quietly because they can't speak or escape. So let’s be the species that helps.

This guide is for anyone who’s ever felt a twinge of sympathy watching a bird drink rainwater off a pothole, or a dog digging under a dusty bush looking for three square inches of shade. Let’s talk about how to help our four-legged and winged neighbours survive the summer.

Water, Water Everywhere:

Let’s begin with the most obvious and most life-saving gesture you can make this season: leave out water. A bowl of clean water in front of your house, on your terrace, in the corner of your colony park. An old steel dish will do. A clay pot is better. This is not just for the odd parched dog. It helps cats, cows, birds, bees, squirrels. Refill it daily. Clean it weekly. You’ll be amazed how quickly it becomes the most happening water cooler in the neighbourhood.

The Great Shade Shortage:

If you think you’re hot under the collar after a five-minute auto ride, imagine being a street dog without a collar at all, walking barefoot on a road that could fry an egg in eight minutes. Stray animals need access to shade but thanks to concrete jungles, tarred roads, and our aesthetic obsession with marble tiles, there’s precious little to go around. So help out:

Leave your building gate open a crack during the hottest hours (no, they won’t steal your car).

Let the community dog lie under the stairwell.

Place a gunny sack or cardboard sheet under a tree near your lane.

If you have a shop, let the dogs sleep by the shutter or under your display table.

The Thirsty Sky:

You know who really suffers in silence during summer? Birds. Tiny feathered toasties flying about with nowhere to land but scalding concrete and nothing to drink. Put up shallow clay bowls of water on your terrace or balcony. Keep the depth low so small birds can bathe and sip without drowning. Add a rock or two for them to perch on like little avian poolside loungers.

If you’re feeling generous, throw in a handful of bajra or rice grains nearby. You will have opened a rooftop buffet for them.

Recognize the Signs of Heat Distress:

Much like your colleague who turns lobster-pink after walking to the metro, animals too show signs of heatstroke. Here’s what to look out for:

For dogs:excessive panting, drooling, confusion, vomiting

For cats:hiding, lethargy, breathing with mouth open

For birds:open-beaked breathing, wings spread wide, lack of flight

If you spot this, don’t panic. Move the animal to shade. Offer water slowly. Wet a towel and place it under them. Call a local animal NGO or vet. Please don’t pour water directly on a bird or dog, it shocks the system. You're cooling them, not baptizing them.

Summer Snacks and Street Feeds:

Feeding street animals in summer requires a little tact. You wouldn’t eat hot rajma-chawal at 2 pm in Delhi heat, so don’t expect them to. Offer:

Curd rice, plain bread soaked in water

Boiled eggs, biscuits (unsweetened for dogs)

Watermelon rinds, banana peels for cows

Wet cat or dog food if available

Feed early morning or after sundown, when the heat’s less intense. Clean up leftovers. You're helping animals, not creating a wildlife version of a trash pile.

The Kindness Loop:

The beautiful thing about helping strays in summer is that small acts make a big difference. You don’t need to start a foundation or stage a protest march. You just need to:

Fill a bowl

Open a gate

Share your shade

Offer a biscuit

Call for help when needed

Pass the message on

And soon, your lane becomes a little kinder, a little cooler, a little more humane. This summer, be the hand that doesn’t shoo away, but sets out food. Be the person who looks at a panting dog and says, “Here, buddy. You matter.”

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