Every day, millions of animals across India strain under the weight of overloaded carts, pack saddles or yokes, often without rest, food, or care. This International Working Animals Day, let’s pause to celebrate how far Animal Rahat has come with the help of our supporters in changing that story. 

Since 2011, Animal Rahat has worked with sugar factories across Maharashtra to replace bullock-driven carts with mechanised means, facilitating the deployment of over 18,850 tractors/trucks and 270 harvesters at 26 sugar factories, significantly reducing dependence on animal labour. The result: More than 1,06,700 bullocks retired. But it doesn’t stop at the sugarcane fields.

We’ve rescued 557 donkeys from grueling labor across 49 brick kilns. These gentle beings were once forced to carry heavy loads for long hours under the blazing sun, enduring wounds, exhaustion, and neglect. They now live freely and in peace at our sanctuaries, basking in the sun, enjoying treats, playing with friends, and receiving love and care.

38 horse/pony carts have been replaced with mechanized vehicles, enabling families to earn a living without exploiting animals, while sparing thinking, feeling beings from a lifetime of hard labour and suffering.

Following Animal Rahat’s work in to modernise sugarcane factories in Maharashtra, in 2023, the central government approved ₹128 crores and 78 lakhs for mechanisation, an offer open to all states. Using this, Maharashtra state can subsidize the procurement of around 900 harvesters which would replace 50,000 bullocks. We urge the state to take this up quickly.

Rahat means relief. And today, that word belongs to every bullock standing untethered in an open field, every donkey who has felt the sun without the weight of bricks, every horse/pony who runs only when she wants to. There are still millions of working animals waiting for their own Rahat. Until every one of them has it, we won’t stop.