Among the many animals Animal Rahat rescued recently was this dog, who had fallen down a 50-foot-deep well. Fortunately, there wasn’t much water inside, so she was able to stay dry on the sloping bank. Our rescue team put dog biscuits in a burlap sack, tied two ropes on either side of the sack’s opening, had two people stand on either side of the well with each holding one of the ropes, and lowered the sack until it rested on the bank. Once the dog entered the sack to eat the biscuits, she was quickly lifted to safety.

Because the frightened dog was frantic and we needed to examine her for injuries, we sedated her. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured, but she was severely dehydrated, so we administered fluids intravenously. Not far from the well was the office of an HIV-prevention organization whose staff was supportive of Animal Rahat’s work. They agreed to take care of the dog until we could pick her up the next day to be spayed.

The following day when we returned to pick her up, we got a pleasant surprise: Some of the staffers from the HIV-prevention organization had been taking care of another local dog, and they asked if we could spay her as well. What wonderful proof that Animal Rahat’s message is permeating the culture—a few years ago, no one in this region had even heard of sterilizing dogs. Needless to say, we agreed to their request and spayed both dogs the same day.