Abandoned in Kottayam, rescued kitten reaches new home in Chandigarh on flight

A tiny white kitten, soggy from showers, was found clinging to life in a waste disposal bin a month ago in Kottayam. His frail body was caked in mud, and he appeared to have gone without food for hours. The kitten, later named Neko, has found a new home, almost three thousand kilometres away in Chandigarh.

It was on May 17 that a seven-member team from Compassion for Animals Welfare Association (CAWA), an NGO working for animal welfare, found Neko during a vaccination drive for stray dogs in Kumarakom. "The team members heard a faint cry from the trash pit and found a malnourished kitten, too weak to move. His bones were visible, and he was shivering in the rain," said Lionel Fabian Gomez, a veterinary nurse with CAWA.

The team immediately rescued him and checked with locals to see if the kitten had a mother or siblings nearby. They soon learned that the kitten had been abandoned. The para-vet on the team took Neko in and brought him to CAWA’s quarters in Kottayam, supported by the municipality.

“He was smaller than our hands and could only drink milk, which we fed him using a syringe. We kept him warm and safe inside our quarters at Vayaskkarakkunnu. While we were out on field duty, he’d play around the room. By the time we returned, he’d be ready to curl up with us,” Lionel recalled.

CAWA regularly rescues stray animals and facilitates adoptions after thorough background checks. Neko was only their second animal to be adopted outside Kerala; the first was a dog rehomed in Bengaluru a year earlier.

In Neko's case, however, the adoption happened more smoothly. The adopter, Paroma—who runs her own animal welfare NGO—was known personally to the CAWA team and already had several pets. "Given her experience and background, we didn’t require an extensive verification process," said CAWA campaign director Prapti Bajaj.

On May 5, Lionel began the journey with Neko, travelling by midnight train from Kottayam to Thiruvananthapuram, carrying the kitten inside a grocery basket. After spending a day at his home, they boarded an Air India flight to Delhi the next morning. The transport charges amounting to ₹20,000 were jointly borne by CAWA and Paroma.

“All flight arrangements, including pet transport documentation, were completed beforehand. We reached the airport by 5 am for our 8.30 am flight. Neko was calm throughout, barely showing any signs of agitation. I was seated in the last row, and the seats beside me were empty,” Lionel said.

Neko slept for most of the flight, waking briefly toward the end due to hunger. “I showed him the clouds through the window to calm him, and he soon dozed off on my chest. That was his favourite sleeping spot even back in Kottayam,” Lionel added.

He avoided feeding the kitten during the flight to prevent any travel-related discomfort. Once in Delhi, Neko was fed and hydrated. The heat, however, was intense. “Even I felt suffocated,” Lionel said. Thankfully, Paroma arrived at the airport on time, and soon, Neko was on his way to his new home in Chandigarh via an air-conditioned train coach. “Paroma was delighted to meet Neko. The kitten, true to his friendly nature, adjusted instantly," said Lionel, on his way back to Kerala from Delhi.

CAWA, based in Punjab, has branches in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Kottayam in Kerala. Since launching their Kerala operations in 2023, they’ve vaccinated thousands of stray dogs, sometimes reaching up to 100 in a single day, depending on the area and terrain. The organisation also runs spay/neuter and rabies response programs, working to promote humane animal treatment and improve public health.