Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre Together, let us create a city where cruelty is eliminated

Nepal ’s dogs – and the great hope for them in the future.

Just returned from a 3 week vacation and family visit in Nepal we hurry to pass on and tell about a really worthy cause in service of the street dogs. It is a matter which we think deserve great attention. During our last visit to Nepal back in 1998 we experienced conditions which were much worse than what you can experience in the Kathmandu of today. And there is a very special reason for that. 

Our interest in dogs has grown a lot since our last visit. That of course made us prone to focusing on the dogs of Nepal . And even if things as mentioned have improved it has not all been good experiences. Our “dog-lover hearts” have cried many a tear and the powerlessness which we have felt has at times seemed unbearable. Nepal is a poor country with many big problems to solve. They have problems with pollution, with the infrastructure and for the time being also political problems. Therefore there is not much surplus energy to devote to those thoughts of animal welfare that we have grown up with in Europe . 

In Nepal , street dogs have been a big and insurmountable problem for many years. Mainly since they have been sources of infection in humans, but also the general health of the dogs has been a problem. The solution from the government has so far been to lay out poison in order to reduce the great number. Although the only result was that only a few dogs died and many more dogs have become seriously ill. Cases where children have eaten the poisoned meat are not uncommon just as many pets have died as a cause of this.

But in spite of the fact that we have experienced many things which our “dog-lover hearts” find it hard to stomach there is still a big and noticeable improvement compared to conditions 8 years ago. The number of street dogs has been significantly diminished and most dogs look healthy and well-fed. The local population now seems to have changed into liking them and feeling sympathy for them and there is no more throwing of stones at the dogs. There are even bowls outside people’s doors with food for the dogs and some dogs will act as “warming-pillows” for the people who live on the street.

It was so nice to see and experience – and our feelings when we finally got in touch with the place that is the cause of all these big improvements were overwhelming.

The name of the organisation is Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre, also known as KAT. It was founded by an English lady, Jan Salter, who had seen great successes with similar projects in India . The whole place and its activities is dependant on donations and charity. There are a couple of big international pharmaceutical companies who help them with medicines, but other than that they are dependant on support from organisations like WSPA and private persons. Their means are small and that makes it even more fantastic what they are accomplishing. Just think what they could do if they had a more solid financial support!!

KAT really does a tremendous job of helping the street dogs to a better life. Their ABC programme is simple but extremely efficient. They concentrate on a specific part of the town, where they then inform the local population about their programme and who they are. Then each morning they capture a number of female dogs who are then brought to the centre where they are registered and examined by a veterinarian. The dogs that are really ill get a special treatment and are maybe put into isolation. The rest of them get a good rest for a day and a good meal, and in the morning the programme starts for them. Here they will be inoculated against rabies, sterilized, de-wormed, deloused, de-flea-ed, and de-ticked as well as get a treatment of whatever else ails them. It takes 2-3 days for a dog to recuperate after a sterilisation, and after that they are placed back into their old habitat. When a dog is released into its habitat again, brochures are distributed to encourage the local population to care for their “communal dog” – with great success. The centre concentrates on the bitches to diminish the number of unwanted puppies, but they also castrate and treat male dogs that are sick or injured.

In this way KAT has treated about 4000 dogs in 3 years and the result is noticeable in the streets. One doesn’t see street puppies quite so often any more and the contamination from dogs to humans has been reduced significantly. The laying out of poison has stopped in the areas where KAT has operated. Alongside their main “programme” KAT does a tremendous job of teaching guiding and informing the public in Kathmandu about how to deal with dogs – street dogs as well as pets. They cooperate with schools so that the pupils can visit the centre and learn how to take good care of their pets and the street dogs in their neighbourhood. As the public learns more about how to treat their pets, the centre is also better at finding new homes for the dogs that the centre can not release. They may be dogs who have gone through a longer period of treatment and who therefore will not be able to survive on the street anymore

It was an incredible great and life-confirming experience to visit the centre. We were overwhelmed by how much they burned for making a difference and how the whole centre was permeated by the energy that the volunteers exhibited. What a big amount of Love they had for the dogs. We ended up supporting them by joining with a lifetime membership – for we simply had to help them with their good work. But apart from the membership we hope that by telling you about our experiences, some of you out there might feel inclined to support the place. Several people have over the years asked us if maybe through our contacts in Nepal we knew of serious places where economical support would be of benefit – both for people as well as for dogs. We can certainly vouch for the fact that KAT is doing a good and serious job which really makes a difference.

The World Congress this year has elected to support KAT. They do that by information about the place, and an auction over things donated by Tibetan clubs and private persons all over the world.