Dear Friend,

I hope you enjoyed the holidays. You certainly deserved to for caring about Animal Rahat and all the animals it saves! I’m sending a few titbits of news and photos of some of the many individuals who have benefited from the generosity of Animal Rahat’s wonderful supporters.

Hugs for Beloved Animals Bound for Even Greener Pastures

Having bonded with the sheep, horses, and ponies who have been in their care for months (many for years), the sanctuary staff showered them with hugs and wished them well on their journey to Animal Rahat’s beautiful partner sanctuary in the Nilgiri Hills.

Last month, all four sheep and numerous horses and ponies were transferred from Animal Rahat’s main sanctuary in Sangli to its partner sanctuary in the Nilgiri Hills, where the soft soil is better for their hooves and legs and where they can enjoy grazing on lush green grass in cooler temperatures.

Above on the left, a caretaker says goodbye to Shiva, a sheep I helped rescue during a trip to India in 2019. He was just a lamb when we rescued a whole group of sheep, including him, whose owner had totally ignored their lameness. On the right, a caretaker gives a farewell hug to Balumama, who came to the sanctuary earlier this year when Animal Rahat’s mechanisation project allowed his owner to buy a motorised vehicle and retire the pony from a miserable life of pulling a tonga (a two-wheeled cart) in the sun, day in and day out.

Above on the left, two more sheep – Claudine and Sunita – are enjoying some parting affection from their caretakers. Claudine had been abandoned in a churchyard and was found with a maggot-infested wound on her spine and a wound in which part of her mammary gland had been torn off by barbed wire. Sunita was among the group of sheep who had become lame because of the neglect of their owner.

On the right, you see Pratap – a stunner of a horse if ever there was one. He was forced to pull tourist carriages in Mumbai and was horribly thin, had numerous lacerations, and had inflamed joints and tendons when he was rescued in 2018. The staff will miss the magnificent sight of him galloping around the Sangli sanctuary, but they know he’ll cut a fine figure against the backdrop of the Nilgiri Hills.

Please donate to PETA’s projects helping Animal Rahat rescue animals who are still at the mercy of neglectful or abusive owners.

Owl Sacrifice Thwarted

This owl was freed and will live to see another day, instead of being sold on the black market and killed for the sake of superstition.

Animal Rahat received a tip that a five-man cadre was selling a wild-caught Indian eagle-owl for use in a sacrificial ritual. Although the sale of owls is illegal, they remain one of the most sought-after wild birds in India. They are sacrificed by people looking to improve their financial situation or to cast a “bad luck spell” on a rival. Animal Rahat worked with Forest Department officials and other animal advocates to set up a sting operation, even going so far as to send the culprits a video of tens of thousands of rupees as proof that they had the necessary payment. It worked! All five men were arrested, and the owl was released into the forest. Hurray!

Confiscating Instruments of Torture

Yoke spikes are illegal devices that stab bullocks in the neck if they turn their head. Above are some of the dozens that Animal Rahat confiscated last month.

Sugarcane harvest season has started, which means arduous labour for bullocks. While Animal Rahat has persuaded dozens of sugar factories to switch from bullocks to tractors in order to haul the cane from the fields – sparing tens of thousands of bullocks pain and suffering – thousands of bullocks are still on the roads, struggling to transport tonnes of cane to the mills. Team members travel to the sugar factories to put up signs warning people against engaging in cruel practices, to improve conditions – such as covering slippery metal weighing platforms with rubber mats to prevent injury to the bullocks – and to confiscate illegal devices.

Animal Rahat stopped this man on his way to a sugar factory and compelled him to hand over his yoke spikes.

This past month, the team confiscated 83 yoke spikes and 145 other vile implements of pain, including whips and goads.

Healing a Stabbed Donkey

Thanks to Animal Rahat, Ojas received effective veterinary treatment for his colic and is no longer in pain from the thick needle that had been jabbed into his ear as a traditional remedy.

As if being forced to perform gruelling labour weren’t causing them enough suffering, India’s working animals are also subjected to painful folk remedies for illnesses and injuries. For example, joint swelling and abdominal gas are “treated” with hot-iron branding, infected eyes are rubbed with crushed tube lights, and limps are “corrected” by binding (i.e. disabling) the parallel leg so as to force the lame leg to bear weight. As shown above, when a working donkey named Ojas came down with colic, his owner took an elderly neighbour’s advice and plunged a thick needle into his ear!

An Animal Rahat veterinarian removed the needle, treated Ojas for both the colic and his wounded ear, and explained to the owner that it’s always a bad idea to use pain-inducing “remedies”, especially when Animal Rahat’s services are only a phone call away and are free of charge.

I hope there are many good things in store for you in 2021. Because you care, good things are in store for working animals in India – and for that, I thank you.

Kind regards,

Ingrid E Newkirk
Founder

PS: Please consider making a gift today to PETA’s projects that support Animal Rahat’s work to rescue animals from life-threatening circumstances, improve the treatment of working animals, retire and replace them with motorised vehicles whenever possible, and provide the residents of its sanctuary with lifelong care. Thank you.

PPS: To start your new year off on a happy note, see some of the many animals Animal Rahat’s supporters helped it save in 2020 and watch the team in action!