Animal Rahat Update

March 2009—May 2009

Founded in 2003 with just one treatment station, Animal Rahat now has dozens of small, easy-to-reach treatment stations—30 in Solapur and 26 in Sangli (two districts in Maharashtra, which is one of the largest and most populous states in India). The program started with just two employees and has now grown to include a staff of nine.

At first, Animal Rahat veterinarians could only treat between 10 and 15 animals per day, but now the average number of animals treated daily is 80!

In this report, we list a few of the many achievements that Animal Rahat has made from March through May 2009.

Making an Annual Fair More 'Fair' to Animals
For the fourth year in a row, Animal Rahat provided relief for—and prevented the suffering of—countless animals during the annual goddess festival, Chinchani Fair. This festival is a terrible time for bullocks and horses because whole families pile into carts and force the animals to run for two days straight to make it to the fair. The average distance traveled is between 100 and 250 kilometers. This was the most successful year ever for the relief camp that Animal Rahat set up for these animals.

The Animal Rahat team provided 879 bullocks and 113 horses with "stress kits" containing vitamins and minerals to help the animals withstand the symptoms of being overworked, bottles of pain-relieving liniment to relieve their aching muscles, and water to rehydrate them. Of those animals, 180 required specialized treatment for various ailments including joint pain, joint dislocation, torn shoulder muscles, lameness, yoke gall, dehydration, diarrhea, hemorrhagic diarrhea, painful bloating, and wounds on various parts of their bodies.

Hundreds of exhausted bullocks recuperate at Animal Rahat's relief camp at the Chinchani Fair.

The best news is that many people are finally heeding Animal Rahat's appeal to stop subjecting their animals to this grueling journey. For example, last year there were 189 bullock carts from the village of Sangola, while this year only 32 bullock carts from Sangola came to the fair. Animal Rahat hires buses every year as an alternative way for people to get to the festival. This year, 128 cart owners from the villages of Jaisingpur, Kawathekand, and Nagaon chose to leave their carts at home and instead took the free buses that Animal Rahat provided—meaning that their bullocks and horses were spared this marathon of pain and enjoyed much-needed rest while the families were away.

For people at the relief camp, the veterinarians pointed out the tears of exhaustion in the eyes of their animals and made an impassioned plea for people to come by bus next year instead.

The Animal Rahat staff also provided bullock and horse owners with drinking water, hot tea, and a rest facility—all of which was appreciated and helped to foster a receptive environment to communicate Animal Rahat's message of kindness to animals.

In another sign of progress, many owners approached the Animal Rahat team requesting preventative medicine for their animals and advice on how to prevent injuries and illness. What a wonderful change from four years ago when preventative health care for animals was simply not considered!

Sparing Animals From the Slaughterhouse
Several people at the treatment center in the village of Kaulapur made a point of telling the Animal Rahat veterinarians that all the bullock owners in the village were very grateful for Animal Rahat's services and that for the past two years none of their bullocks have been sent to a slaughterhouse—a common occurrence once the animals are too old, sick, or injured to work and the owners can no longer afford to feed them.

These villagers explained that their bullocks are staying healthy much longer now because of Animal Rahat and added that other veterinarians only provide medicine for symptoms but don't explain the causes of problems or how to prevent them from occurring in the first place. They see what a difference Animal Rahat's approach has made in the long-term well-being of their animals.

In light of the death marches that bullocks are forced to undergo as cattle dealers prod and pull them hundreds of miles to the slaughterhouse—exhausted and deprived of any food or water—this change has spared Kaulapur's bullocks from a living hell and a nightmarish death at the hands of the butchers.

A calf struggles beneath the weight of an overloaded cart.

Giving Animals Time to Heal
One innovative service that Animal Rahat provides is paid rest days. Many people are living at a subsistence level that does not allow them to sacrifice the income from even one day's work in order to give their animals a day of rest. Therefore, when Animal Rahat staff members encounter an animal who is so ill or injured that rest is imperative for recovery, they provide the owner with enough pay to cover the income lost from the prescribed rest days for the animal.

Over the past two years, there have been more and more cases in which owners have agreed to provide rest days for their bullocks and yet refused to accept the money offered by Animal Rahat to compensate for the days of lost work.

For example, in a recent case, Mr. Mahadev Basapur's tonga pony was unable to bear weight on one leg, so Animal Rahat paid him to allow the pony to rest for two days. Mr. Basapur did so, and the pony showed an 80 percent improvement but still needed more rest. The Animal Rahat team then offered Mr. Basapur another two days' payment, but he refused, saying that he would allow the horse to rest but that Animal Rahat had already helped him enough and that he would bear the remaining two days' expenses himself!

This is terrific proof that people value the Animal Rahat program to such an extent that they want to preserve its resources for others in need.

Helping to Retire Working Animals
A very important aspect of Animal Rahat is its animal-retirement program. Often, when long-suffering cart animals become too old or ill to work, they are sold for slaughter—which is generally performed without stunning and, as mentioned above, usually follows an unbearably long and hellish journey. As an alternative, Animal Rahat encourages owners to allow animals to continue living with their families until they die so that the animals' remaining years can be free from work, pain, and the terror of the slaughterhouse.

To lessen the expenses incurred by owners when they are not earning money with their animals, Animal Rahat pays for part of the animals' feeding expenses if the retired animals are kept with their owners. There are currently six retired bullocks and one retired horse who are living with their families thanks to Animal Rahat.

If owners do not have enough money to keep their animals after they become too old to work, Animal Rahat encourages owners to turn their animals over to Animal Rahat instead of selling them for slaughter.

There are four bullocks who are now living at the Animal Rahat retirement facility, where they will never have to work again. Until March 27, the bullocks numbered five, but that day marked the last day that Shilya—the Animal Rahat retirement center's very first resident—remained with us in this world. When he came to the retirement center, he was 22 years old, brought in by his owner Mr. Santosh Masal, who cared very much about him. When Shilya lost his strength and it became clear to the Animal Rahat veterinarians that they needed to end his suffering, they called for Mr. Masal and made Shilya as comfortable as possible in his final hours. With Mr. Masal at his side, Shilya slipped away to dance with Krishna and Shiva, and his body is buried at Animal Rahat.

While the presence of their oldest retiree was certainly missed by the Animal Rahat team, there were soon two more additions to the family. Animal Rahat's director, Dr. Dhananjay Shinkar, observed stray donkeys wandering around Udgaon village. They were presumably abandoned by their owners who had come to assist with building brick roads in the village and who had simply left without their donkeys when the job was done. Noticing that two donkeys were apparently debilitated, Dr. Shinkar examined them and found deep wounds in need of treatment, so he brought them to the retirement center where they were able to heal safely. They were then transferred to a partner sanctuary where the soil is better for donkeys' hooves and legs.

Since then, the Animal Rahat retirement center has welcomed a new donkey who was weak and suffering from a skin disease. During the day, all the animals enjoy grazing on the grass, nibbling on food (which is scattered all over the property to encourage them to exercise their aging limbs), drinking from the water bowls provided around the grounds, and enjoying the shade of the trees. In the evening, they stroll to the sheds to bed down for the night.

How gratifying it is to be able to provide rest for these retired animals and to help alleviate the suffering of the thousands who are still working. Animal Rahat sponsors make this program possible. Thank you!