TOLFA’s Project In Jaisalmer
In the far west of Rajasthan, lies the small town of Jaisalmer. Described as a giant sandcastle rising out of the desert, Jaisalmer was once an important town situated on the camel train route between Indian and Central Asia. Its imposing fort, intricate havelis and narrow winding streets, pull in the tourists from far and wide.
The imposing Jaisalmer fort
Beginnings Of The Project
When the previous Ajmer Municipal Commissioner became Collector of Jaisalmer, he was keen to get an Animal Birth Control and Rabies vaccination programme up and running as he’d seen the benefits of such a project from our work in Ajmer.
After applying to a notice of tender, TOLFA was accepted as the animal welfare organization to run the programme and a contract was made to sterilise and vaccinate 1200 dogs over a 3-4 month period.
Manoj preparing a Jaisalmer dog for surgery
Work Begins
Work began at the beginning of February, headed by Dr Irshad who then handed the project over to Dr Anup. Accompanied by 6-8 of our dog catchers and animal care assistants, we operated on 10-20 dogs each day.
In the absence of a proper hospital complex, the municipality had given a local fire station over for the process. A shaded area became a makeshift operation theatre and preparation room, and the old municipality cages served to confine the dogs during recovery from anaesthesia.
Dr Anup and Annu operating a Jaisalmer dog
For the rest of their 2 and a half day stay, the dogs ran about in the high walled, shaded, sandy area and much to our surprise, due to the very laid back nature of the Jaisalmer dogs, there was no fighting. We’re also happy to report that there have been almost no post-operative infections - which is so important.
Already operated dogs hanging out together
The Work Involved
Due to the oppressive heat of this desert town, as it headed towards the monsoon, it became neccessary to perform the operations in the early evening to make it as comfortable as possible for both the dogs and staff.
As well as the important operations and vaccinations, treatments were performed on the ailing animals and the most common complaints seen were the ever common mange and maggot wounds.
Jaisalmer dog under treatment for maggot wound in his ear