Women in animal welfare

Women globally have played a critical role in ani­mal advocacy since the 19th century. While there are many organizations doing work in their locality to promote animal wel­fare and rights, the organizations below stand out particularly for their work, and for being founded and led by women.

Animal Nepal was established as an NGO in 2008 by Pramada Shah. In the last decade, she’s led the efforts to grow the organization together with an all-women board. She strong­ly believes in the “need to institution­alize things to establish any move­ment, and to leave behind a system for the next generation of leaders.”

Pramada’s vision for Animal Nepal: “The results of our endeavors might not be immediate, but I aspire to ensure that the advocacy we are doing leads to effective policies. I believe in informing laws and poli­cies for long-term impact.”

 The KAT center was registered as a non-profit, charitable animal welfare organisation in 2003

Campaigns she is proud of: “I am thankful that the Supreme Court has made a decision to reduce the scale of sacrifice during the Gadhimai fes­tival. With our collective efforts, we have managed to reduce the number of buffaloes sacrificed from 20,000 in 2009 to 3,000 in 2014. The work of fellow animal welfare activist Manoj Gautam has been instrumental in effecting this change. Our Equine Program on the fair treatment of working animals has become a mod­el for the international community to replicate. We have a sanctuary for equines rescued from brick kilns where they faced poor treatment.”

Parting thoughts: “I strongly believe in leveraging the power of partnerships. It’s extremely encour­aging to see the number of individ­uals and corporate Nepali donors growing to support our work.”

SPCA-Nepal is one of Nepal’s old­est animal welfare initiatives, which had direct links to the international umbrella organization. Established in 1992, SPCA is the first organization to work on animal welfare, rescue and animal-rights advocacy. It is cur­rently led by a working committee of eight women and three men.

Samjhana Acharya shares, “I’ve been vegetarian for 12 years, and once I left the banking sector, I wanted to be a part of the eco­system that advocates on behalf of animals. I feel humans cannot exist without animals, but animals can exist without us. We should all make a joint effort to do the least harm to our fellow beings.”

Beena Pant shares, “I feel the most sympathetic toward cows; hence our main focus is on developing a rehabilitation center for cows. We have managed to secure land in Paanchkhal and want to make this a model project that can be scaled up across the country. Cows are considered holy in our culture and their by-products have multiple uses, including organic fertilizers. I hope we can get more people to support us in our journey.”

Sneha Care’s founder Sneha Shres­tha shares, “I wasn’t always an ani­mal lover. Four years ago, after much pestering from my husband, I finally agreed to get some puppies, one of which, Zara, became more than a family member to me. But one day, she got poisoned by a neighbor who didn’t like her barking. And despite desperate efforts to save her, she died four days later. In Hindu cul­ture, when a family member dies, we observe rituals for 13 days. I did this for my dog. Knowing how Zara had suffered I began to see street dogs differently. I started feeding them and began paying for space to give dogs shelter, care and regular meals. But I wasn’t satisfied. So with the support of my husband, I sold a house I owned and opened a shelter for dogs. Sneha’s Care means a lot to me as it is my home where hundreds of dogs, 13 cows, six pigs and four goats live. We have helped more than 10,000 animals in just four years and we continue to help those in need.”

Campaigns she is proud of: We started working on implementing the “Live Animal Transportation Standards, 2007”. Since last year, the cruel conditions in which buf­faloes are transported have ended because of the campaign. We also collaborate with other organizations to inform school students about ani­mal welfare.

“Most of my volunteers and sup­porters are women. Women are full of love and passion. They can save the world.”

The KAT center was registered as a non-profit, charitable animal welfare organisation in 2003. Jan Salter, the founder, was a talented artist and humanitarian. In 2010 she was pre­sented with the “Extraordinary Com­mitment and Achievement Award” by Humane Society International. She passed away last year, but her vision and love for animals endures.

Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Let us all do our part in supporting these organizations to ensure that Nepal is seen as a leading nation in protecting the rights and freedoms of animals.