Tree Of Life For Animals

Here is a great idea for raising money for a good cause.

Recently Margot Solmssen celebrated her birthday at a London nail salon. She invited several of her friends and they all enjoyed a day of manicures and pedicures where lots of fun was had by all. Instead of presents Margot asked her friends to donate money to a charity of her choice and with the generosity of her friends, Margot managed to collect £140 which she donated to us.

We would like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to Margot for her generosity and thoughtfulness and many thanks to all the Solmssen family for their continued support.

Margot and friends enjoying a pamper day whilst raising money for us

Every day is different. We never know what will happen, what will come into the hospital that day, what will need to be rescued or what operations will need to be performed. Here is a little bit about our daily routine.Our Rescue VehicleOur vehicle driver is Rajesh and the main animal assistants on rescue duty are Ramesh and Bunty who have great animal handling and catching skills.We can get a phone call anytime telling us about an ill or injured animal that needs rescuing. This means the rescue vehicle is generally out all day, everyday, collecting animals, mostly dogs and cows. They arrive back at the shelter before lunch with anything rescued and again before closing between 5 and 6pm. They can bring back anything from 1 - 8 animals a day.Their other job is also to release fully recovered animals back into the area they were collected from.Rescuing an injured donkey**Daily TreatmentsOn site there can be up to 120 animals. These include dogs and puppies, cats and kittens, cows, donkeys, monkeys and calves. All of these are fed, watered, medicated and cared for each day by the dedicated staff at TOLFA and any volunteers that are there to lend a hand.We treat every animal daily and record any improvements or problems. This means we can keep on top of what treatment is working and what isn’t enabling us to change medications and treatments as necessary - every animal is different. We aim to do complete all treatments in the morning, but with over 100 animals to do it can take a few hours! When an animal is fully recovered they are released back into the area they were collected from (detailed notes are kept and the staff are very good at remembering who was from where).All dogs and cats are neutered and vaccinated against Rabies before being released. This helps us reduce the ever growing population and tries to eradicate the fatal rabies disease.Performing daily treatments**

Helen and Peter are currently on an adventure around the world. Their stay in Pushkar led them to discovering us and coming along to give a helping hand. You can read about their experience with us on their website.

Helen and Peters travel website - www.goneawol.net

Peter - Our Volunteer

Helen - Our Volunteer

One day Helen and Peter discovered a donkey in the street which had been badly injured by a large truck. They called our rescue vehicle straight away and then helped our staff, Bunty and Rajesh with a lift.

This got some local attention and Peter got his picture in the local newspaper.

The donkey was treated for shock and is currently being looked after at the hospital as he is suffering from hindlimb paralysis.

Peter and Helen’s rescued donkey

The shelter has grown so much in such a short space of time. We have been in our current building for just a year and already we are expanding.We have finally completed our current building projects which consist of an office, a toilet, an exercise garden for the dogs, a food preparation room and a separate mother and puppy area. Our builders have done a fantastic job.

Our next project is to finally get our electricity connection, build a bigger cattle shelter and complete the staff accommodation, which will enable someone to be on site overnight.

I have returned from my 2nd trip to visit the Tree Of Life shelter in India. The site has changed in the year since I was last there. The most obvious change has been the volume of animals that are now being treated on a daily basis. On site there were approx 55 dogs and puppies, 3 cats and 1 kitten, 10-12 cows, 5-6 donkeys, 1 monkey and 3 calves. All of these are fed, watered, medicated and cared for each day by the dedicated staff at TOLFA and any volunteers that are there to lend a hand.At this time of year it is mating season and so there are a huge number of dog fights and unfortunately the injuries all tend to become infected with maggots so it proves to be a busy time catching and treating several of these a day. Some can take weeks to fully heal. Operations occured daily whether it was a routine neuter or a leg amputation, a cow with a prolapse or a fractured leg.Once the dogs had recovered from their illnesses or injuries they were all neutered and vaccinated before being released back to the area they were collected from.The rescue vehicle is out all day everyday collecting ill and injured animals generally dogs and cattle. They arrive back at the shelter before lunch with anything rescued and again before closing between 5 and 6pm. They can bring back anything from 1 - 8 animals a day.Kim and Twinkle the calfThere have been some changes with the hospital too - building work has already started to extend the premises to include an office and toilet, an exercise area, a food prep room and a mum and puppy area (so they are segregated from the other dogs). There are also the beginnings of a new cattle shed which is considerably larger than what is currently there - Rachel hadn’t realised how many cows and donkeys she would be treating.Rachels staff comprise of 10 animal assistants, a driver and a nightwatchman and are all dedicated and hardworking and great fun to work with. She also has great support from her new trustees and some local people she has met in the past year.Whilst I was there we had 15 wooden donation boxes made and given to us for free which we painted and distributed out to shops and hotels. Hopefully we can raise some valuable funds through these.At the end of my trip I was so ready for a break but now I cannot wait to go back there. It is such hard work and seems never-ending but Rachel is doing a fantastic job out there. I hope people will get to visit her sometime in the near future to get an idea of what it is like and what she is achieving.

Paul came on a trip to India with his wife Ann to assist us for 2 weeks. He came during Monsoon season when it is hot and very wet. His help was invaluable and he had managed to acquire and bring over a large amount of donated goods (medicines, books, dog leads etc…) from several people and companies in the UK which was greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all your help Dr Paul.

N.B. All the vets in India get called Dr - no exception.

Dr Paul - Our Volunteer Vet

What a great sucess the September Fun Run was. Thanks to all our fun runners and those that sponsored them. We have raised approximately £1800 from this event, a tremendous amount which will go a long way to help us continue our work at the shelter.