Dharamsala Animal Rescue were the awardee in the Regional category (ARACON) for the 2019 World Rabies Day Awards. View their profile and statement on receiving the award here.
Dharamsala (India) is a hillside station known best as the place the Dalai Lama resides.
One would think that this would mean there is no human/stray dog conflict, but there is. When I first traveled to Dharamsala as a tourist in 2008, I was stunned by the lack of concern for the welfare of the street animals. Dogs getting hit by cars and people walking by and tiny trembling puppies dying were normal sights.
I knew I was only seeing the surface of the issues during my first trip to India, but still tried to find help for a specific dog. Luckily, I found volunteers administering treatments to street dogs and after sending the vet, many of the locals that used to pass by (and ignore) the sick dog on a daily basis, were all of a sudden concerned for his welfare. One family even decided to feed him and give him his daily medicines. I saw how my one action of finding help could actually change a community’s way of treating the stray dogs around them. It was because of this interaction that I founded Dharamsala Animal Rescue. I wanted to see if this action could be multiplied. We are happy to say that through being in the community and in the schools, teaching about compassion towards these dogs and alerting children and adults alike on post-bite protocol, we have witnessed significant behavior changes.
Some of these changes are:
- More families and shop owners feeding local dogs
- More people calling us when a dog needs its annual vaccinations
- More people becoming community caretakers, even fostering and finding homes for strays
- More people learning to administer vaccinations and provide first aid
- More people adopting strays as pets
- More post-bite vaccinations and immunoglobulin at the government hospital
Along with our education program in schools and our annual rabies quiz on social media, we know we also have to do the work to stabilize population through sterilization and mass vaccination for rabies.
In 2017, we began our first population surveys of a defined area of Dharamsala, making this our first targeted campaign against rabies. In 2019, we were awarded the World’s Rabies Day Award by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control for our work in India. With these funds, we implemented our 3rd annual population count and rabies vaccination camp in December 2019.
Continue reading click HERE.
The World Rabies Day Awards are brought to you by MSD Animal Health and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control. The Awards recognise community rabies champions from across the world. Find out more about the Awards and the 2019 Awardees.
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About the author
Deb Jarrett
Founder/Executive Director - Dharamsala Animal Rescue
Deb Jarrett, at age 40, decided her life needed some shaking up. In fact, she needed to rattle her brains a bit. She was done climbing the corporate ladder, paying mortgages and internet dating—so she quit her job and moved to India to help animals. Not to be confused with Elizabeth Gilbert, at this point in her life, Deb had done just about all of the self discovery she so desired on therapist couches, yoga retreats, and spiritual workshops. In fact, she Eats very carefully, due to the risk of bacteria and parasites. She no longer Prays after experiencing the harsh reality of the developing world on a day-to-day basis and believes compassionate action is the answer. However, she did fall in love with the Indian street dogs and started Dharamsala Animal Rescue in 2008 after her first trip to India.
