Our Roots
I love animals. Its as simple as that! I love their diversity, their loyalty, their mischieviousness, their cunning, their intuition, everything about them fascinates me. I don’t think that it came as a surprise to anyone when I became a veterinary nurse, after a childhood spent bringing home every waif and stray that I could find. And that is what I have been doing for the last 12 years and I have been lucky enough to combine my first passion in life with my second and that is travel. For the past 7 years I have travelled the globe and been able to do volunteer work with animals along the way, that is how I discovered India.
How it all began
Sitting on a beach in Sri Lanka, four years ago, we were visited by a stray dog that was in a very bad condition. She had an old fracture of one of her legs and was emaciated due to the fact that she was unable to eat. She really was a sorry sight. After examining her I found that she had a stick across the roof of her mouth that was preventing her from eating. Once removed, she heartily tucked into a plate of food, from the look of her, it had been a while since she had been able to eat. Each day after that, she came back to visit us and every time she would bring another dog with her, all with problems of their own. One with badly infected ears, one with a horrible wound and one with a piece of glass in his foot. With my skills learnt as a veterinary nurse, a small first aid kit and a bit of time, all of them got better!
Rachel with Kali the cat
The Idea
It was at this time, that the idea for the ‘Tree of Life for Animals’ started to grow in my mind. I realized that with very little effort, the life of 4 dogs had been greatly improved. So I started thinking, what would happen if there was a shelter, a rescue vehicle, a veterinary doctor and a fully stocked medicine cupboard? The answer is that the lives of literally thousands of animals could be improved. And so here it is, our new charity that has been launched, which I hope will spread a little happiness to all that come into contact with her. In a world that is full of terrorism and environmental destruction, it is good to create something. Plant an acorn…water it, nurture it and in years to come there will be a huge oak tree. That is the hope for the future of the ‘Tree of Life for Animals’ - a tree that spreads its branches throughout the world and can sustain the life of all that seeks its shelter!
Thank You
I would like to thank all the people, in both England and India that have already helped to make a dream start to become a reality. With such a huge project, it would have been impossible to do it all by myself and so for that I am truly grateful. Every time, we are able to release an animal back to their territory and watch as it skips away back to meet its old friends, every time we are able to release an animal from its suffering and pain and every time, I am followed down the road by an animal who is tugging on my hand, that remembers me from a stay at the shelter, I know that what we are doing is right and it makes all the hard work and heartache worthwhile.
PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO HELP US TODAY!
Rachel Wright (Founder and Chairperson in India)
Special thanks
I would like to dedicate this part of the website to my mum who spends nearly six months of the year over in India helping me. Although unlike me, she has no formal training as a nurse she has a natural ability to care and nurture the animals, especially the young and really sick. Amongst the extreme challenge and chaos that is India, its been wonderful to have a stable, guiding presence.
Mum feeding two hungry calves
