By Becky Metcalf | Project Leader
Rescuing street animals (mainly dogs) that are in need of medical attention is rewarding, but also heart-breaking; we see injured, sick, and suffering animals have their lives transformed after a few weeks of love, care, and the proper medical treatment. But we also have to deal with the emotional turmoil that arises from rescuing animals that are unable to pull through, despite our best efforts.
This is why, although our rescue program is important, our sterilization program is vital. Rescuing and treating the street animals treats the symptom of a far bigger problem – the uncontrolled birth of thousands of puppies every year. The majority of which are hit by cars, get infected with deadly disease, get drowned in the river; and if they survive puppyhood; have a life of searching for food, fighting among themselves, being hit by vehicles, abused by humans, and being at the mercy of their hormones; living simply to breed year after year.
By sterilizing as many dogs as possible, we treat the cause of the problem. Our aim is to hold sterilization camps throughout the year, setting up in villages for a few days and sterilizing the dogs that live in the village. Our first camp of this kind took place before we even had our small hospital, and was very successful, with 108 dogs being sterilized over two weeks. Our second camp allowed us to sterilize 67 dogs on a hydro-power campus. Our third camp took place in a town called Naggar, 5 km away from Manali Strays, where we sterilized 41 dogs. Our fourth, and most recent, camp was 11 km away, which resulted in 57 dogs being sterilized.
In between camps, we continue to sterilize dogs at out hospital, and so far since August 2020, we have sterilized 396 dogs on site at Manali Strays; making a grand total of 669 dogs sterilized by Manali Strays. This is just a fraction of the dogs roaming the streets in our valley, so we have a lot more work to do.
While all these sterilization operations are taking place, we continue to rescue and treat the street animals; with 421 rescued animals passing through our gates and being treated since August 2020.
And with no other veterinary facility available in the valley providing the level of care that we do, we also have many pet parents bringing their animals to us, with 868 being brought to us for medical care, vaccinations, and health checks.
2021 was our first full year, and thanks to our generous supporters we have achieved a huge amount for a new and small charity, and at a difficult time for the whole world. We look forward to seeing what 2022 brings us.
We wish all of our supporters a very Happy and prosperous New Year, and hope that 2022 sees things improving for everyone.
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