Roughly 30 MILLION dogs in India lack homes. Most are unsterilized, giving birth to puppies who will fall victim to deadly diseases, untreated injuries, and even abuse by cruel humans.

Animal Rahat has been working to address this crisis for more than seven years, to stem the flow of homeless animals through outreach efforts in villages and a lifesaving animal birth control (ABC) program.

So far, the program has been adopted in 26 villages across Maharashtra, sterilizing and vaccinating 95% of the dog population! That’s more than 3,200 dogs who won’t be contributing to the number of animals without homes.

The program’s so successful that the villages where it’s been enacted have seen ZERO new cases of rabies.

This young dog is an example of why a program like this is so desperately needed throughout India:

Homeless dogs like her, who struggle every day to feed themselves, will often try to wriggle into tight spots after smelling something delicious on the other side. Every litter of puppies she produces will face the same kind of life. Companion animals deserve to be indoors, with a loving family who cares for them—not on the streets struggling to survive.

That’s why each animal Animal Rahat rescues is sterilized and why the group is now working with officials in more villages throughout the region, encouraging them to include their own ABC and rabies vaccination programs in their annual budgets so that more dogs are sterilized and vaccinated throughout the country.