​Delhi's 'Dog Lady' cares for 400 strays

Pratima Devi, 65, cares for 400 stray dogs with 120 living in and around her home in a shanty in New Delhi.

She says: "This is my religion, I am doing good deeds. People say you are doing this and that, what is their problem with whatever I do? I mean, people should be encouraged by me."

See also: Dog sprays sand on little girl for revenge (video)​

See also: Land of the Strays: home to 900 abandoned dogs in Costa Rica

When she's not caring for the dogs, Pratima earns money as a rag picker and despite only making around 150 rupees a day she manages to keep her whole pack in good health.

She doesn't just feed them however, she also makes sure they are clean and vaccinated.

Pratima says: "Nothing was here before. Earlier I had a tea stall, I used to make tea here. I had one or two dogs, then they started giving birth to some more dogs."

The animal lover explains that when her shop was destroyed she had nothing to give the dogs, and for two to four days she didn't eat anything and didn't give anything to the dogs either.

She had to feed the dogs left-over meals that she found in the rubbish.

Since then she has rebuilt her tea stall and also gets some help with the dogs these days too.

She has also started receiving some donations of bread, milk and even money.

18-year-old Vivek who lives nearby has also been helping Pratima for the last two years.

He says: "In the morning we wake up at 6 and feed the dogs with milk, after that around 12 we give them food. We feed them again with milk and at night around 11 we give them dinner."

Vivek adds: "I love dogs, that's why I try to be with them most of the time."

Although she has a family in her native village, Pratima doesn't want to return because she explains she's very happy with the dogs, whereas she wasn't that happy with her husband.

She adds that her children often call her and tell her they'll bring her back to the village but she doesn't listen because she wants to carry on helping the dogs.

The only thing that concerns her is who will look after the dogs when she dies.