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Dear HART Supporter,
Thank you on behalf of the animals to all those who gave extra assistance in response to our Christmas appeal.
Thank you as well to the people who contacted us following the broadcast of an interview with co-Founder, Barbara Webb, on BBC Radio 4’s "Excess Baggage" programme. Many travellers are horrified by the plight of the animals they encounter and welcome the opportunity to give practical help .
Please read on to learn about our recent activities.....
Camps in the Far East of Nepal
As mentioned in the November 2011 newsletter, our team were in the far eastern parts of the country (in Illam, the district headquarters, and in the villages of Hasanda, Sanischare and Pathari) for nearly three weeks to conduct neutering and vaccination camps. It was the first ever spaying programme conducted in the eastern region as no other animal welfare organization exists or has worked in these areas.
We are most grateful to the Local Development Officer for inaugurating our programme.
The villagers and the Village Development Committee of Hasanda VDC were very enthusiastic about the programme as they have been facing sporadic rabies outbreaks in the villages. They have lost many livestock and sadly, within the last two years, three human deaths have occurred.
The staff were given invaluable assistance by three professional volunteers from the UK. Our whole team, including the volunteers, were generously accommodated and looked after by one of the villagers in her home.
The neutering programme in Illam has brought a huge change to this hilly town. The Municipality has now completely suspended their strychnine poisoning campaign.
Out of the nine Municipality Wards, the neutering programme was focused in Wards 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9.
During an official 'Thanks Giving' closing ceremony, HART was invited to return and continue the work in the remaining areas. Mr Yubraj Dahal, Executive Officer of the Illam Municipality, commented "At first, I was sceptical of Mr Khatri's proposal for sterilization surgery but, following HART's work with us, I will certainly pursue the Dog Population Management issue during the forthcoming 15th Municipal Council meeting."
We are most grateful to our supporters who offered financial support for this pilot programme. We were also very pleased that the overhead and logistic expenses for these camps were minimised thanks to the support of the local community, and this encourages us to continue the programme in the remaining areas of Illam during the summer. Essentially, all we will then need to fund are suture materials and anaesthesia.
On our return from Illam we received a request from the Para-Veterinary Association of Dharan (another hill town in the east, which has rapidly urbanized) to conduct a CNVR programme in their town. They reported that they are struggling to convince their Municipality and so HART has offered them assistance to lobby the officials for a sterilization programme and will train their members if they are successful in arranging a programme there.
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Diversion
Once completed in the east of the country, our returning staff dropped into Biratnagar to check up on the situation of the little boy and his dog who featured in our March newsletter last year.
The picture (inset) of the boy protecting his animal from the poisoning brigade has haunted many of us.
We were able to track them down and are pleased to report that both are well and safe.
Perhaps one day this child will join us in working for animal welfare.
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Volunteer update
Dr Clare Muir completed her research into the burden of intestinal worms borne by working equines in our area. AHTCS provided facilities, information and resources and will receive her report in due course. We are also extremely grateful to Dr Devkota of the Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Pokhara, for the information he shared to assist the project.
Dr Muir also continued to provide extra veterinary care at our clinic throughout her two months at HART and her cheerful presence will be greatly missed.
Three intrepid and skilled vets joined us for the camps in east Nepal. Dr Eilidh Hawkins, Dr Monya Richey and Dr Michelle Gray offered their knowledge and expertise to the HART team and Dr Gray has followed up with a detailed analysis of our protocols and some very useful recommendations.
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Kennels in Bharatpur
The building of our nine kennels in the DLSO compound in Bharatpur is now well advanced and almost completed under the supervision of Chandra Rai.
These will house dogs in the town who do not have anyone in the community prepared to look after them post operatively, or treatment cases, and will facilitate the expansion of our spaying and rescue programmes.
As previously noted, the prevailing attitude to animals is very different between Pokhara and Bharatpur and we must adapt our work according to the circumstances we find.
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Completion of Phase II anti-rabies vaccinations in Pokhara
We expect to complete the second annual round of anti-rabies vaccinations in all 18 wards in Pokhara within the next week or two.
This is now routine work which is beginning to become part of the town's annual round of events.
The repetition is necessary to maintain the barrier against rabies built up over the past years and, if possible, to start to extend the protection.
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Very many thanks for your continued support
www.hartnepal.org
If you would like more information about our work, please visit our website or contact our Director, Mr Khageshwaar Sharma, at k.sharma@hartnepal.org
© Himalayan Animal Rescue Trust 2012
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