A Lady Freethinker grant awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic to an on-the-ground nonprofit in Nepal helped feed and treat 120 stray dogs, Voice of Animal-Nepal (VOAN) said in a recent update.
Every day, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., VOAN volunteers trekked out to the streets, carrying buckets of food to lines of stray dogs who learned to wait for them.
(Courtesy Voice of Animal-Nepal)
“Every dog in these areas recognizes our vehicle and us,” VOAN told LFT. “They get alert when they hear the sound of our vehicle’s horn and get ready to follow us. They wait for us in a group in the evening.”
LFT’s grant paid for food, the distribution and cooking teams, and the vehicle on hire. The grant also helped support VOAN’s medical initiative to immediately treat sick and wounded senior dogs on the streets.
We are so grateful to our generous sponsors and supporters, who helped make this life-saving award possible! Because of your caring, these innocent animals now have a higher quality of life!
(Courtesy Voice of Animal-Nepal)
VOAN said the pandemic has hit animals in Nepal particularly hard. Kind hotel and restaurant owners and passerby routinely feed strays scraps, but those feedings stopped with lockdowns — leaving hundreds of animals at risk of suffering and starving.
“This pandemic created a big problem for our street dogs,” VOAN said. “They were in pathetic condition.”
The nonprofit added that hungry street dogs have a habit of rooting for food by entering people’s homes or hunting their smaller animals, including chickens, which can breed ill-will in the community.
Keeping dogs fed, and healthy, prevents those negative interactions. With the help of LFT’s grant, VOAN was able to extend their coverage area to encompass the entire Kathmandu Valley, including Kathmandu, Bhakatapur and Lalitpur and specifically the areas of Redcross Height, Redcross Kharibot, Rose Village, Kaushaltar Hunumante Bridge, Lokanthali Suspension Bridge, Baglamukhi Temple Balkot Height and Brihaspati Street, Jadibuti.
(Courtesy Voice of Animal-Nepal)
“Voice of Animal-Nepal became able to continue feeding to our community stray dogs with the support of Lady Freethinker, so we would like to thank (you) for paving a way for this wonderful service,” VOAN said.
VOAN was one of two organizations to be awarded $10,000 through the first cycle of LFT’s Critical Care grants, a part of the Urgent Need Program.
(Courtesy Voice of Animal-Nepal)
The nonprofit, based in Kathmandu, has been feeding, vaccinating, and sterilizing street dogs since their establishment in 2015 and also provides spay and neuter services to low-income residents.
Thank you again to all our generous contributors for helping these innocent animals! We couldn’t do this life-saving work without you!
(Courtesy Voice of Animal-Nepal)
(Courtesy Voice of Animal-Nepal)
