Each season brings its problems, and the monsoon season affects all animals, of course, as finding shelter and even food is often extremely hard. This means that in their quest for protection from the downpour, many animals become uninvited visitors in people’s homes, such as this trinket snake that a man found taking refuge on his bed.

In the past month, Animal Rahat received 12 calls about snakes and responded quickly to each one in order to move the animals to a safe outdoor location. In one case, Animal Rahat staffers spotted a crowd yelling about a snake near a railway station. Just as this mob started gathering sticks to kill the snake, the Animal Rahat team intervened, calmed everyone down, and carefully rescued and released the animal (who was nonvenomous and posed no threat to humans) into a safe area.

Snakes also suffer greatly during Nag Panchami—a religious holiday in which people “worship” cobras in the hope of gaining protection from them during the rainy season. This means that cobras are captured in suffocating bags, kept in tiny boxes, and starved so that they will be more likely to drink the milk—which they cannot digest—that is forced into them during rituals. Their venom ducts are often pierced with a hot needle, causing the glands to burst, their teeth are violently yanked out, and many snakes’ mouths are painfully and crudely sewn shut by the snake charmers who take them into the city.

In the weeks leading up to Nag Panchami, Animal Rahat arranged for ads to be broadcast on the radio warning that these cruel practices are illegal, gave talks at schools, and worked with other local animal advocates and the Forest Department to warn the public against harming snakes. As a result, our scouts did not see any snake charmers at the Nag Panchami festivals in Sangli—a huge change from last year when 13 snake charmers were arrested.