Animal Aid shifted location in early 2009 to the sparkling new rescue center and shelter just 20 minutes away from Udaipur’s city center.

New Address: Badi Village, Across from T.B. Hospital. Main Road. Udaipur.
 
The new shelter is situated on about 4 acres of land which means that the permanent shelter animals, or long-stay clinical patients, enjoy open fields in which to graze, chase, play, and express themselves freely.

The shelter is divided into 5 sections:

1) The main hospital building is where surgeries take place, where small-animals are prepared for surgery, and where medicine is stored. The “staff & volunteer room” has been taken over by a batch of feisty puppies at the moment. Bless the puppies, they kindly allow the staff to eat their lunch in their room, as long as they get to sleep in a lap and get a few bits of chapati. The hospital building also contains a small kitchen, storage room and office.

2) A-Kennel is the main dog kennel located nearest to the main hospital where all of the dog clinical cases are held for the duration of their most intensive treatment and recovery. There are 50 cages, a runway and courtyard where dogs are let free, in shifts, to stretch and lie in the sun or shade and interact with one another. Animal Aid doctors make morning and evening rounds through A-kennel treating the wound cases, giving drips and other medication. Throughout the day these dogs are taken for walks by Animal Aid staff and volunteers.

3) The Mange-Range is dedicated to dogs suffering from the skin condition called mange. Mange is a microscopic mite that burrows into the dogs skin and causes hair-loss and extreme itchiness which then can lead to secondary skin infections and a general deterioration of the dog’s health. The Mange-Range has capacity for 25 dogs and also includes a courtyard with natural grass growing where dogs can dig holes to sleep in, lay in the sun, and play chase. (some are smart enough to play chess, but we don’t allow it.) Treatment of mange includes weekly injections and twice-weekly medicated baths. These dogs are taken for several walks a day by Animal Aid staff and volunteers.

4) Handicapped-Heaven is a sandy island in the middle of the property, outfitted with cabana-style huts for shade, where disabled dogs lounge, hobble their way into tubs of water (swimming pools) made to be level with the ground for easy access, and happily receive and give love to staff and volunteers.

Dogs injured in road accidents often become paralyzed in their hind quarters. Through physical therapy and medical treatment recovery is possible, and in those cases the dog is returned to his or her neighborhood. But sometimes the damage to the spine or hips is too severe and full recovery is impossible, and because Animal Aid does not release any animal unable to run away from predators and find food, and does not euthanize healthy dogs because of impaired mobility, they are given a permanent home at Animal Aid. The sandy ground in Handicapped-Heaven provides a soft surface that prevents drag wounds.

5) The cow and donkey paddock includes more than an acre of land and holds about 25 recovering cows and bulls and about 30 donkeys. The un-owned stray cows have been rescued by Animal Aid after road accidents and other injuries and illnesses. In India, cows who no longer produce enough milk to make them “profitable,” and bull calves who have only the financial value brought by their skin and other parts, are either abandoned on the street or sent away to mostly-illegal slaughterhouses hidden throughout India where they are killed for their meat and leather (India is the world’s largest exporter of leather.) Cows abandoned to the streets forage through garbage, eating massive amounts of plastic bags in search of what little nutrients they can find. But the plastic bags do not digest, and while her stomach fills up with plastic she begins to starve to death. This is the sad fate of almost all the “retired” dairy cows dumped on the streets of Indian cities. Animal Aid rescues the injured and ill cows in Udaipur, and actively works to stop the needless suffering of cows by promoting a vegan diet that excludes the consumption of all animal products and by discouraging all use of plastic bags.

Donkeys are used for carrying loads of sand, bricks, and stones to and from construction sites in areas of the city where trucks and larger vehicles are unable to access. The 600-800 donkeys in Udaipur are owned by a very poor community who do not understand “prevention over cure.” By over-working donkeys and forcing excessively heavy loads, donkeys are often left injured and lame. It is against the law to work an injured or ill donkey, so when Animal Aid comes across a lame donkey being forced to carry a load of bricks, we immediately confiscate the donkey and take him or her to Animal Aid for treatment and sanctuary if the injury is permanent. Along with free range inside the donkey paddock, donkeys are alternately let out to graze on grass in the main property.