Tree Of Life For Animals

One of our very first volunteers has written about her experience with us in August 2005 - the very beginning of our journey. It has just been published in the Veterinary Times magazine which is distributed to vets, nurses and veterinary surgeries throughout the UK.

India’s Tree of Life for Animals by Nadine Lock BVSc, Cert VA

In August 2005, the Indian charity Tree of Life for Animals embarked on its first major project and I was lucky enough to take part in it. Despite having an animal shelter that was only in the initial stage of being built, Rachel Wright, the founder of the charity had decided to take on a short-term relocation and Animal Birth Control program.

For 6 days in early August the religious Urs festival takes place in the Rajasthani city of Ajmer. Pilgrims travel for weeks to reach the holy Dargah shrine, the surrounding area of which is home to scores of street dogs that live off scraps from the nearby restaurants. In previous years, the dogs have been rounded up in the preceding weeks and ‘disposed of’. Rachel, a British veterinary nurse passionate about animal welfare, was determined to offer a more humane solution and was thrilled to find support from the local municipal corporation.

We were provided with a disused firestation to use as our base, and a team of willing students and cleaners to help us look after the dogs. The volunteer team consisted of 2 vets, an animal physiotherapist and a Battersea Dogs Home welfare officer from the UK along with 2 Indian vets, animal assistants (essentially veterinary nurses especially skilled at catching stray dogs) and drivers.

For the first week, nights were spent catching the dogs and days were dedicated to making escape-proof shelters, assessing the new arrivals and providing treatment and basic care. The dog-catching was left to the experts and continued until all the dogs in the area had been found.

Contrary to my expectations, the vast majority of the dogs were affectionate and gentle and those that had managed to escape from the confinement inside the firestation were waiting inside the gates each morning to welcome us with tails wagging.

Lots of dogs were neutered and vaccinated

The neutering program started once we had around 40 dogs in the compound. Each dog was given peri-operative IV fluids, antibiosis, meloxicam, ivermectin and the all-important rabies vaccine. Anaesthesia was TIVA using ketamine and diazepam or ketamine and xylazine after a xylazine or chlorpromazine premed. This combination worked extremely well and there were no anaesthetic-related deaths.

Spays were performed via a right flank incision to reduce the incidence of post-operative infection. I learnt from the Indian vets we worked alongside that intradermal sutures have to create a perfect closure so as not to attract flies. This is more difficult than it sounds and probably added an extra 5-10 minutes of surgery time, but having seen the outcome of some spay wound infections, it was time well worth investing.

During the 2 weeks, a total of 150 dogs were neutered, vaccinated, had any wounds or diseases treated and then were safely returned to the streets on which they had been found. Word travels fast in India and our presence became known within a very short time. In addition to working with the dogs we were also called upon to attend to numerous cases within the city, predominantly the victims of traffic accidents.

Rachels brief visits into town to buy supplies often took up most of the day as she was presented by one sick animal after another. This could be anything from a puppy to a cow or even a camel. On one occasion I found myself travelling to meet her on the back of the local chai shop owners motorbike, with fluids and medication to treat a collapsed donkey - the first I had treated since qualifying all those years ago.

Treating a sick donkey in the street

The days were long, usually 16-18 hours of work, and often difficult and emotional but always rewarding. Our volunteer team all felt that the experience would stay with us forever. We were able to enjoy a beautiful country in the company of so many wonderful people whilst helping to give something back to the community and the animal population.

The ongoing aims of the Tree of Life for Animals are to create a rabies-free environment; provide treatment and freedom from suffering for stray animals; educate villagers in basic veterinary care; provide a mobile veterinary unit in remote rural areas.

If you would like to know more about the work of the TOLFA or are interested in volunteering or fundraising, please see our website http://tolfa.org.uk. The charity is currently in desperate need of funds so any help you can offer would be most welcome.

Read Nadine’s original post about her volunteer experience with us.