AnimalRahat.com: Improving the Working Lives of Animals in India

Animal Rahat Update

October 2006-January 2007

Animal Rahat ("rahat" means relief) is a nonprofit organization, and PETA is helping Animal Rahat to expand its services. Most working animals in India belong to people who are too impoverished—and don't know how—to provide even a minimal standard of care for the animals. Bullocks, horses, camels, and donkeys suffer horribly from malnutrition and poor nutrition—often having nothing but weeds to eat, for example—as well as dehydration, untreated sores, overloading, injuries, and even beatings. The two biggest problems are lameness and depression: Debilitated and despairing animals lose the will to carry on. They falter, eat very little, and suffer beatings in order to force them to keep moving.

Staffed by a team of well-trained veterinarians and their assistants, Animal Rahat brings vital relief to working animals and helps their owners. The animals' owners often don't have enough money to provide animals with basic nutritional requirements—food that working animals need in order to maintain their strength and stamina—or to pay even a few rupees to repair a broken harness or get medicine for animals' serious illnesses or injuries.

Rahat also teaches people about basic animal welfare, including fundamental, practical measures, such as the importance of providing a nutritious diet, giving animals working in the heat enough water so that they won't collapse, and reducing and balancing loads of bricks, human passengers, and other commodities that animals are forced to pull.

Founded in 2003 and starting with just a handful of treatment stations, the program has now established 60 treatment stations: 41 in Solapur and 19 in Sangli (two districts in Maharashtra, which is one of the largest and most populous states in India). Animal Rahat began with just two people, and it now has a staff of eight. The Rahat veterinarians started out treating between 10 and 15 animals each day, and now the average number of animals treated daily is 60!

Another wonderful sign of growth is the construction of water tanks at several of the treatment stations; these tanks give thirsty animals dependable access to water. Also, the upgrade from scooters to four-wheeled vehicles has given the staff much more mobility and safety and has enabled them to reach needy animals across greater distances.
In addition to the daily routes from village to village to cover all the treatment stations, Rahat has established a tetanus vaccination "camp," where owners can get their animals vaccinated for free. Many more owners are willing to pay the government to vaccinate their animals for foot-and-mouth disease; this willingness is a direct result of our vets' regular discussions on this topic over the past two years.

In this report, we list a few of the many achievements that Animal Rahat has made between October 2006 and January 2007.

The program's good reputation is constantly growing, as is evidenced by a new record set in November: The team treated 65 cases in just one day! Despite the volume of cases, each one is heartbreaking, as is illustrated by the following example. A 3-month-old donkey suffered a leg fracture and was in such severe pain that he was not able to put his leg on the ground. The Rahat vets tranquilized the animal and bound the break. Within a half-hour, he was able to keep his leg on the ground, and his owner was given follow-up instructions.

How seriously people take the vets' instructions is evidenced by the recent case of Mr. Sargar, whose bullock was lame because of an incorrectly applied shoe. Following the animal's treatment, Mr. Sargar was instructed not to let the bullock move for 24 hours. Mr. Sargar was so careful about following the instructions that he did not even go back inside his house—he sat alongside the bullock until the animal recovered.

As for the increase in the program's popularity, the staff reports that several people at the Rahat station in Kaulapur told them, "You are the only doctors who can cure our animals. Other doctors take money from us, but our animals remain the same!"

The increase in patients also means that the staff is encountering a wider variety of ailments and using a broader spectrum of treatments. As always, our vets stand ready to treat any and all animals in need, whether they're hoofed, feathered, furry, or scaled. Their broad knowledge came in handy in October, when they had to treat seven rabbits in one day!

Also in October, an unusually high number of horses needed treatment. The staff made a home visit to the owner of a horse whose hock-joint wound made it impossible for the animal to travel. The team also treated a plethora of tonga (passenger cart) ponies for lameness and diarrhea during the busy Ramzan festival preparations. (The ponies are greatly overworked during crowded festivals.)

While lameness, yoke gall, and other painful ailments are very common, it is not that common for the staff to encounter animals with cancer. However, we are happy to report that a bullock in Kumthe village who was suffering from horn cancer was successfully treated. The bullock underwent an operation and is now doing well.

In another recent Rahat case, a bullock experiencing haematuria (blood in the urine) even required chemotherapy (which was successful).

Rahat's vets continue to offer presentations at treatment centers on a variety of health-care topics. One presentation focused on proper care in order to prevent yoke gall (painful, infected sores caused by the constant rubbing of the heavy wooden yoke against the animal's neck and shoulders). A vet pointed to one man who had been driving carts for 16 years without ever giving his bullocks yoke gall and showed the crowd how this man maintained and positioned the yoke properly.

One very important aspect of Animal Rahat is its animal-retirement program. Often, long-suffering cart animals are sold for slaughter (which is done without stunning and often follows a long journey that they can barely endure) when they become too old or ill to work. As an alternative, the Rahat staff encourages owners to allow animals to continue living with their families until they die so that their remaining years can be enjoyed free from work and pain and so that they will be spared the terror and agony of the slaughterhouse.

In order to lessen the expenses incurred by owners when they are not earning money with their bullocks, Animal Rahat pays for part of their feeding expenses if the retired animals are kept with their owners. Currently, there are eight retired animals who live with their families as a result of Rahat's influence.

If owners do not have enough money to keep their bullocks after they become too old to work, Rahat encourages owners to turn their animals over to Rahat instead of selling them for slaughter. Currently, 16 animals live at the two Rahat retirement facilities.

The staff joyfully received another retiree in November—a 25-year-old horse named Sarja. Everyone was pleased when Sarja's owner turned the horse in at one of the treatment centers and did all the paperwork in front of the other owners, serving as a positive role model and creating good publicity for the retirement program.

Chunni Lal, a rescued 1-month-old donkey,
recovers from his injury at a Rahat retirement facility.

In addition, a 1-month-old donkey named Chunni Lal was rescued by a Rahat vet and taken to live in one of the retirement facilities. Although his leg problem has rendered him permanently handicapped, his injury is improving nicely, and the team expects a full recovery.

On a bittersweet note, Rahat's very first retired bull, Raja, died on the morning of January 5. Knowing the time was coming, one of the Rahat vets had been staying with him for two days when Raja finally passed. Raja died peacefully in his sleep and did not suffer. The Rahat team was grateful to have been able to give him a life free from the yoke for his final months on Earth.

Animal Rahat sponsors make this program for India's working animals possible. Thank you!