Animal Rahat Update

October 2007-January 2008

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 cannot afford to provide even a minimal standard of care for animals and who have not been taught how to do so. Bullocks, buffaloes, horses, camels, and donkeys suffer from poor nutrition—sometimes they eat only weeds—as well as dehydration, untreated sores, overloading, injuries, and even beatings. The two biggest problems are lameness and depression: Animals who are debilitated and in despair lose the will to carry on, eat very little of the small amount of food they are given, and suffer beatings from drivers who are determined to keep them going. To make matters worse, the area is drought-stricken and farmers have no water for themselves or their fields—let alone their animals.

Staffed by a team of well-trained veterinarians and their assistants, Animal Rahat offers vital relief to these animals. The program helps animals' owners, who often don't have enough money to meet animals' basic nutritional requirements. Animal Rahat even pays owners a few rupees so that they can repair a broken harness or obtain medicine to treat animals' serious illnesses or injuries.

Rahat also teaches people about basic animal welfare, including fundamental, practical measures (e.g., the importance of providing real fodder rather than contaminated scrub and giving animals working in the heat enough water so that they won't collapse). Carts full of passengers or commodities such as bricks can weigh thousands of pounds, so it is crucial to teach people to reduce and balance the loads that animals are forced to pull along heavily rutted tracks.

After being founded in 2003 and starting with just one treatment station, the Rahat program now has 52 treatment stations—29 in Solapur and 21 in Sangli (two districts in Maharashtra, which is one of the largest and most populous states in India). Animal Rahat started with just two employees and has grown to include a staff of seven. The Rahat veterinarians started out treating between 10 and 15 animals per day, and now the average number of animals treated daily is more than 40!

In addition to working along the daily routes between villages to cover all the treatment stations, Rahat also holds tetanus vaccination "camps," where people can get their animals vaccinated for free.

In this report, we list a few of the many achievements that Animal Rahat has made from October 2007 to January 2008.

Some wonderful signs of growth in recent months include the setting of three new records for the program in Solapur: most new cases in a month (171), most cases treated in a single day (102), and most cases treated at a single center in one day (62).

Another sign of progress that the vets have noticed is that at some of the treatment centers, the number of cases is so high not because there are so many sick animals but rather because more owners are bringing their animals in for preventative measures—which is precisely the goal that Rahat aims for!

The device above is called a travis. It is a stall that holds a bullock comfortably upright for treatment; the animal would otherwise have to be on the ground, which causes stress and bruising. (We have seen farriers cast animals and cause their shoulders to break.)

This travis was built at the center in a village called Kaulapur. This one is the first travis to have a roof, which will provide protection from the burning sun and the rains when they come. Soon, the Animal Rahat logo will be painted on it so that it will publicize the program as well.

With the weather turning cold in Solapur, a high priority this quarter was to provide warmth to animals in need. The Rahat team gave out small blankets to owners who could not otherwise afford them for their animals and to owners whose animals have no shelter. For underfed animals with no layers of fat to help insulate them against nighttime chills, blankets mean the difference between a restful night of much-needed sleep and an exhausting night of shivering cold.

A very important aspect of Animal Rahat is its animal-retirement program. Often, long-suffering cart animals are sold for slaughter—which is generally performed without stunning and following an unbearably long and hellish journey—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 from the terror and agony 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 seven retired bullocks and two retired horses who are living with their families thanks to Rahat.

The most recent bullock to retire was Gandharya (pictured above with his owner). Now 18 years old, Gandharya will live at home and enjoy days filled with nothing but rest, food, and loving care from now on.

If owners do not have enough money to keep their animals after they become too old to work, Rahat encourages owners to turn their animals over to Rahat instead of selling them for slaughter. There are two bullocks, four horses, and four donkeys who are now living at the Rahat retirement facility and will never be overloaded again.

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk celebrates the setting of the foundation stone with a government official from the local ward.

This past quarter, Animal Rahat purchased a four-acre plot of land for a permanent retirement facility (the land for the previous facilities had been rented on a temporary basis). In January, a ceremony was held to lay the foundation stone for the new retirement home (see the photo above). Several local dignitaries attended, along with the owners of many bullock carts. There were also several reporters and television crews covering the event, which helped give the Rahat program more visibility in the community.