Rescue, Re-home and Manage Stray Animals in Nepal

Dear Supporters, 

Towards the end of 2016, HART ran a 3-day sterilization program in the Dang District and it was a huge success!

In total, 124 dogs were neutered- 59 were spayed and 56 were castrated. An additional 25 dogs were vaccinated. So we helped a total of 149!

The Ghorahi Municipality proved to be a great help in the spreading of the message in the lead up to the program. They put an advert in the local newspaper and spread the message about neutering on the local FM radio stations. It was very encouraging to see so many local people bringing their free-roaming dogs to our venue to get them neutered. 

Out of the 124 dogs neutered in the 3 days that we were open, 44% of the dogs were brought in by the people of the community. The other 56% were caught by the HART staff. 

We were very sad to learn that the strychnine poisoning of dogs was carried out in Dang District prior to our arrival. The DLSO claims that it was done without their consultation.

“The poisoning had to be done as the dog bite cases was going beyond control and the two major festivals were right at the door step and there was a huge pressure from community” says one of the officials who does not wish to be named.

At a meeting with the CEO of the Municipality, he was asked about the poisoning. He acknowledged that he was compelled to do it because of a huge pressure from the community, particularly because the dogs at chowks (intersections) were biting people and chasing motorbikes. He mentioned he’s already faced criticism from media and animal groups and realizes that the poisoning is a short term solution. We’ve discussed how the program can be conducted on a larger scale if we all collaborated (Municipality, DLSO and Animal Group). He’s assured us that he would sideline a budget for next year. 

Following our discussion with the DLSO and the municipality, we are positive that no stychnine poisoning will be repeated in Dang. There is also the possibility that the four municipalities in Dang may collaborate for Dog Population Management through neutering. 

Thank you to our HART supporters, who have contributed and sent donations to help us reach these districts!

With Gratitude, 
HART

Dear Supporters,

The rains have continued later than usual this year, making conditions more difficult. Landslides are a sad but common news feature here in Nepal. Due to this, our expansion into outlying wards has been slow but we have been able to keep the clinic open so we have been able to receive animals in need of care.  

Here are some of the highlights of what we have been up to in the past couple of months.

World Rabies Day

To mark World Rabies Day, which was on 28th September, the Bharatpur team held a five-day mass vaccination project in Sauraha.

Suitable rooms were provided by the Hotel Association and local resident, Martina Manders, is helping ensure that as many as possible of the dogs in the town are vaccinated. We also used this opportunity to note any un-spayed animals and will make a plan to return at a later date to sterilise these animals.

We would also like to thank IVSA and Rotary Club for their collaboration 

As part of the rabies drive, we have been visiting schools to give students information about the disease, avoiding rabies and dog bites in general. So far two schools have been visited and around 200 students reached.

Expanding our reach

In addition to the outlying wards of Pokhara, HART has now started programmes in the adjoining Municipality of Lekhnath. This is a town of 18 wards, known as 'The City of Seven Lakes', which connects to Pokhara along the Prithivee Highway. This town has had to deal with sporadic rabies outbreaks over the years and there has been no sustained vaccination or sterilisation programmes implemented.

As this town is much smaller and less urbanised than Pokhara it was decided to obtain an estimate of the dog population by the use of door-to-door surveys. 100 householders were surveyed in each ward using a smartphone app developed for the purpose.

A series of meetings with Lekhnath Municipality CEO, Mr Lok Bahadur Bhandari, were held to discuss extending programmes into his Municipality. He arranged a presentation day with the Ward Secretaries and Tole Line Organisations from the 18 wards. With the help of these TLO representatives, the work in Lekhnath has now begun.

Thank you for your continued support!

With Gratitude,
HART