"We are getting more than 100 calls a day on our helpline. The number of animals that have been moved to higher ground and rescued must be in hundreds," Anand Shiva of Kerala Animal Rescue said.

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When the flood waters rose, most people tethered their pets and animals and left or were rescued. When they reached the shelter, they broke down and told rescuers that they had left their pets behind.

"That became a problem. So many tethered animals just drowned. These animals are natural swimmers, and it is better to keep them free so they can swim to higher ground," NG Jayasimha of Humane Society International, which has rescued more than 100 animals, said.

In Thrissur alone, rescue workers found 200 cattle tethered in small sheds in people's homes before they were untied and taken to higher ground.

Kerala, according to one estimate, has a million dogs and a third of them are free roaming strays.

More than 23,000 people were bitten by dogs in 2015, and nearly half of them contracted rabies.

Animal rights groups had then complained that cash-strapped municipalities and irate citizens were poisoning, clubbing, beating, shooting and electrocuting strays to control their population.

"But there's a genuine love for dogs in the state, contrary to public perception. Otherwise we wouldn't have found so many dogs in people's homes," said Mr Jayasimha.

More than 8,000 cattle, calves and buffaloes, 3,297 goats and 47 dogs have died in the floods, according to the government.

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