We rescued 3 puppies last night who were literally stuck to the ground, unable to move their legs, terrified and covered in tar. A vat of tar had spilled where road work was going on in Udaipur and the puppies had gotten trapped in it. Locals who saw the puppies called our helpline and we rushed to rescue them. Amazingly none of them were injured though we can only imagine the horrible things could have happened to them had they remained stuck to the ground for any longer. The tar was centimeters thick on their stomachs and feet, and took almost 2 hours for us to clean. They are the sweetest of puppies who graciously sat through the long process and were SO happy to be finally able to stand up and pee when their legs were freed! We are so happy to have been able to save them!!!

This is a story about a street dog rescued by Animal Aid after she was shot in the leg with a shotgun. We named her “Shanti” which means “peace” in Hindi. Shanti is a shining example of grace and patience. It is a story about how the recognition and help Shanti received by Animal Aid helped elevate her status in the minds (and hearts) of the neighbors of her street.

By going to neighbors and sharing her harrowing story immediately after she was shot; by sharing news of her progress with the neighborhood in the weeks that followed, and by taking the time to go door to door with Shanti on the day of her release, we ensured that Shanti will have several families taking up the privilege of helping her in the weeks, months and–we hope–years to come.

Animal Aid provides one-on-one attention to every recovered animal we release. We always make sure that someone in the immediate neighborhood is fully aware of the animal’s recent history and has pledged to feed the animal and to keep a vigilant eye out, promising to call us if there are any problems in the future.

Follow Shanti from the day she was shot to her happy ending reunited with her neighbors.

Warning: this recovery story is graphic and gory with an incredibly beautiful ending. Though the “before” photos are difficult to look at, we just had to share this boy’s beautiful “after.” We rescued him with his whole ear being eaten away by maggots. Most of the dozens of dogs rescued each year with maggot wounds are male dogs who get into fights with each other during mating season and bite each other’s ears and necks. The puncture wounds that would otherwise heal and cause no serious harm become infested with maggots (in a particular fly season) that eat away at live tissue. It is even MORE frightful than it sounds. It’s hard to imagine the physical and mental anguish that animals in this condition go through. When we respond to emergency calls like these the dogs are either shaking their heads continuously, or running non-stop trying to escape the pain. And so we are overjoyed to be able to take 100% of that pain and suffering away and bring this gorgeous boy back to full health…from total pain and near-death to NO PAIN and full-health within a matter of weeks. (Also, to keep him away from fights next year he has been neutered.) We thank every person in Udaipur who calls us to report injuries and every donor who makes life-saving marvels occur.

This photo was taken minutes after he was admitted in the hospital, before treatment.

He was anesthetized during this procedure to remove the necrotic tissue along with his ear that was hanging on by a thread. Removing the necrotic tissue is done to stop the spread of infection and promote faster healing.

Just 10 days later! We were thrilled to see the speed of healing.

And there he is. Healed, and looking forward to life again.

Just to see that "happy-tongue" that dog-lovers know and love is THE biggest reward we could ever get for rescuing him.

- Click here to make your $100 tax-deductible sponsorship donation through Paypal

- Send us an email at info@animalaidunlimited.com and tell us:
1. Which animal you wish to sponsor
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Last Christmas Animal Aid’s personalized sponsorship videos lit up the lives of Animal Aid supporters and their families-and helped us make this a joyous season for animals at Animal Aid. Here are a few of our rave reviews from last year’s personalized Christmas Sponsorship videos:

“A treasure! I really could not think of what to get for my niece and nephew, and this turned out to be the perfect thing. They just loved it.” Markand Lila,Los Angeles, CA

“My grandparents were so touched,” Tiffany, Toronto

“It was so great to see animal care-givers all the way from India wishing my Mom a Merry Christmas!” Ron, Melbourne

A personalized Animal Aid “Winter Sponsorship” video is the perfect way to celebrate the season of joy with your loved ones. What could be cuter then watching an adorable rescued animal all the way in India living a sweet life thanks to your sponsorship!

The personalized video will include a special “Namaste” greeting (including the name of your loved one) by several of the staff care-givers at Animal Aid and of course the animal you’ve chosen to sponsor.

Dr. Kristina Tribulova

For the past month, Animal Aid has been privileged to include the volunteer service of Dr Kristina, from Slovakia. The 28-year-old vet is quickly becoming a veteran volunteer, having volunteered at several other Indian animal shelters prior to coming to Animal Aid. Says Dr Kristine: “I love my work so much I don’t even need to be paid. I just need an opportunity and space to enable me to feel useful—that’s all I need. I want to see the animals healthy.

“I try to do my best to solve the animals’ problems. Sometimes I am an extremist—I want to see perfect results. It can make me very sad if an animal is not treatable.”

She is willowy and strong, and almost never missed a day of work.  And worked with intelligence and cheerfulness, despite the tough cases.

“This is my dream job. Even as a child, I remember seeing a deer that was injured. What made me so sad was that it didn’t know why it was suffering. They are only loving. Without conditions.”

Dr Kristina says she fell in love with India the first time she came, two years ago. She was always fascinated by Indian culture and traditions. “Indians are peaceful. They love their families. I see here what is disappearing in the western world.” But on the other hand, “they don’t seem to care about dogs. That’s something that impresses me about Animal Aid. The staff are so devoted, and the people who work here really want to help. It’s difficult to change people but here I see, they’ve learned a lot from you, the founders; and they seem to learn from each other and they are very caring.”

She urges others to consider volunteering at Animal Aid. “The location too is green, spacious and peaceful, and the town is busy, they can be entertained there too.”

Dr Kristina says the maggot wounds are the most satisfying—they’re “ghastly and I’ve seen dogs with a whole ear missing from maggots, –really deep tissue wounds. But in a few days you can see nice granulating tissues. You see miracles in healing!”

What’s a miracle? “You see such a will to live, especially in these paralysed dogs. But sometimes, yes, I get very sad. We have so many compound fractures and there’s nothing to do for them but amputation. But then, after the amputation, next day I’ll see the dogs with the amputation—they’re happy, they greet me when they see me. Sometimes we get two cases a day that need amputation.

“On one hand you can feel like crying because of the cows. But then, yesterday I saw a donkey trying to drink milk from a cow. I saw Kamala kissing donkeys and cows. It made me so happy.”

She’s lucky to have the full blessing of her parents in this India volunteering odyssey. “My mom supports me because she knows I’m happy and doing something that’s useful.”

Useful is an understatement. She has been absolutely vital, and has saved many lives during this month. We will all miss Dr Kristina dearly.

Animal Aid's Trudy D'Souza grabs the attention of the kids!

Many of Animal Aid’s 32,500 animal rescues would not have been possible without the help of kids. Younger children have given their parents the rescue line number; older kids have reported animal problems themselves.

Animal Aid has focused on one key message for 10 years: YOU can save a life! Getting that message into the hearts and minds of young people has involved making hundreds of presentations in schools.

Children have seen suffering animals on the street, but without knowing there is an emergency help line for animals, they pass the animals by.

When we meet children in classrooms, we show them posters of familiar sights — dogs with mange, animals with open wounds, fractured legs, paralysed hind-quarters — and we say, “This animal needs YOU to save her life!” Exciting rescue stories like the piglet who was rescued from the well make the kids “Ooo” and “Ahh” and before-and-after photos bring out emotions of surprise and relief.

We tailor the presentation to the different age groups. Kids under 13 are fascinated by the rescues and the medical treatments, while kids above 13 are also interested in learning about police cases against animal cruelty, and can grasp more complicated issues like the suffering of parakeets in cages — a common “pet” in this region — and the right to freedom that all living beings deserve.

Animal Aid stickers promoting rescue for suffering street animals are given in each class for students to put up in a prominent place near their home, such as the neighborhood store. Kids “win” the stickers by answering questions like, “Give three examples of animal cruelty,” and, “Give three ways to make friends with a street dog.”

By the end of the class, when we ask the question, “What is the first thing to do when you see a suffering animal?” everyone shouts in unison, “CALL ANIMAL AID!!!”

Kirsten, Ariel, Lindsay and Erica.

Introducing veterinarians to the complex lives led by street animals of India is an important component of Animal Aid’s compassion education program. Vets are often more accustomed to treating owned animals who may lead lives of luxury in comparison to street dogs and abandoned cows and donkeys, treated in facilities that don’t have x-ray machines, ultrasounds, gas anesthesia or other luxuries. We got a wonderful chance to exchange perspectives when four vet students from Washington State University volunteered for three weeks in June.

Erica and Lindsay treating a puppy with mange

Erica Dolven-Kolle, Lindsay Benson, Kristen Danielson and Ariel Grubb regularly exchanged opinions with Animal Aid’s Dr Smriti and our nursing staff, and we sincerely thank them for their many hours of practical help, and wish them all the best in their careers as emerging veterinary doctors.

Cindy, now completely healed, getting her wound dressed by the students

100' well where the baby jackal had fallen into and lay in a foot of water

We received the call this morning that a dog had fallen into a well. Rescue team Ramu and Dinesh (Nana) arrived at the well to find that it was a young wild jackal who had fallen into the more than 100ft deep well. They could see the baby laying in about a foot of water, barely able to lift his head or stand. Looking down into the well it is hard to imagine how Ramu and Dinesh managed to get the jackal into a net and up to safety.

The jackal was treated for shock and hypothermia and quickly recovered

They got him out by tying our dog-catching butterfly net onto a long rope, weighted down with heavy rocks, and after almost an hour managed to get him into the net and up to safety. We don’t know how long he had been in the well but judging by his hypothermic, nearly unconscious condition, it may have been all night. Back at the hospital Dr. Smriti treated him for shock and hypothermia and he quickly began to recover.  He rested in a quiet, covered kennel away from the other dogs and to our delight made a full recovery by evening.

At nightfall we brought him to the base of a mountain near to the well, opened the gate and watched him fly out of the kennel and disappear into the hill side within a moment!

Back into the wild within the blink of an eye!