Paper short abstract:

Using Simone's concept of “people as infrastructures”, this paper attempts to examine how individuals and groups belonging to different classes, professions, and occupations engage in strategic networking for street animal rescue work, in urban spaces in India in precarious moments.

Paper long abstract:

Simone’s concept of “people as infrastructures” challenges the traditional notions of urban collective by highlighting how individuals and communities adapt and sustain social, and economic connections, particularly as they emerge through situational connections- often spontaneous and context-dependent. Simone characterized these networks of human activity as contingent on episodes of diverse “objects, spaces, persons, and practices” that come together momentarily. Simone’s work presents itself as a compelling analytical tool for understanding street animal rescue in urban India, where the formal state response to street animal welfare is often limited or inefficient, and empathy networks play a critical role in addressing gaps in care. These networks may be composed of the local feeder or voluntary care worker in the neighbourhood, the auto-rickshaw driver who ferries an injured dog who is unlikely to see this as part of their regular job, yet contributes to the empathy network by filling a vital gap left by the absence of institutional services such as veterinary ambulance, or the local pharmacy that supplies emergency medicine after hours, or the informal cleaner who helps sanitize makeshift shelters. None of them may be regular participants in animal welfare but these temporal connections reveal a critical aspect of urban life. By drawing on the lived experiences of individuals and communities who are part of these alliances, the paper is an attempt to articulate the challenges of urban animal welfare such as public hostilities, difficult resource mobilization, animal cruelty, and poor civic policies.