Monsoon Greetings!
For the past few years Friendicoes has been making a dedicated effort to help animals outside of our home range of the NCR. A few years a go we started an animal feeding program in the Andaman Islands and we also run a mobile equine clinic to help working horses, donkeys and mules along the Delhi -Agra hi-way. This year we set our sights a little higher and made our way to the Himalayas. From the 24th to the 30th of May 2010 a small team from Friendicoes comprising of Dr.Abhishek and 3 experienced Para -vets conducted an intensive spay -neuter program in the Almora district of Uttarakhand. Smita Joshi a long time Friendicoes volunteer and a native of Almora organized the camp by raising funds to cover the travel, stay and medical expenses we incurred.
Over the course of 6 days the team successfully operated on a total of 76 dogs from the district. Ms. Kamini Kashyap from Almora helped organize operation theatres in the form of 4 empty rooms in a newly built but yet unopened shopping mall. 14 government veterinary officers from around the region also got a chance to watch the Friendicoes staff at work and gain knowledge on spay and neuter procedures. These operations are quite rare in this area and the vets were very appreciative of what they learnt from the FS team.
The team additionally visited several villages in the area to answer animal care queries, give anti-rabies vaccine to the dogs and de-worm the cattle. They also made a day trip to Nainital to vaccinate and medicate a number of sickly cats. The group finally returned on the 30th morning, tired but satisfied with their work.
We can safely say that this camp was a roaring (or rather a barking) success, and we take our hats off to the efforts of Smita, her family and Kamini as well as those who donated to the cause. Controlling stray dog population in Almora will go a long way in ensuring a healthy canine population in the district. We hope to continue our work in places outside of Delhi and provide a brighter future to animals across the country. We encourage all of you to raise funds and organize similar camps in your hometowns as well.
For more information contact Mr. Gautam Barat @ 9811324649
