Saving Animals in Nepal w/ Sneha Shrestha

Mariann Sullivan: We're so excited to be talking to you because we really like to find out what's going on with animals all over the world. And we of course, live on different sides of the world, and you do an amazing range of work with different animals and with many different types of animals. But, I'd like to start with dogs who I think, you know, are a little bit at the heart of the work you do.

And particularly you do a lot of work with street dogs, and before we get talking about your shelter, can you just tell us about what the situation is for street dogs in Katmandu? Because it's different here. I'm not sure it's better , believe me. But it's different because we don't really have street dogs, in the states.

So tell us who they are and how they live.

Sneha Shrestha: Yeah, the condition and the situation of community dogs, like we call. We don't call street dogs, we call them community dogs. And the situation of community dogs in Nepal are not as good as they should be. Many cases of hit and run incidents, skin disease, abuse and abandonment are witnessed frequently.

People often, so carelessness and ignorance of cases. However, thanks to our program, people have become more responsible towards these dogs. They have started providing food, water, necessary medicines. Our shelter has come into excess as a result of these cases. We rescue in critical condition and provide long-term care for those who can no longer survive on the streets.

Currently we have 200 dogs along with other farm animals such as pigs, goats, cows, and buffaloes in our center.

Mariann Sullivan: About dogs, how do you decide who should come to your shelter and, who you wanna help while they're still out in the community?

Sneha Shrestha: Every day we receive numerous calls. There are people, like animal lovers, who send us messages. So what we do is we decide with videos and photos, we decide if the case is critical, we send our team to rescue the dog.

Otherwise, what we do is doing mobile treatment, and what we do is, like, we send our mobile treatment team, just to check the dogs And why we started mobile treatment is we want to make community responsible. So our team go there and they are the one who decide in the street that if like dog needs shelter care or one mobile treatment.

Mariann Sullivan: Do you find that, I think you mentioned that this was the case, but I'd just like to go back to it, that attitudes in the community among people have shifted regarding the dogs? I'm just wondering, in particular, now that your shelter exists and your organization exists, I think people can be more sympathetic towards animals if they have a way to help them.

Do you think people have become more sympathetic to dogs in general? I know people are different and some people really care and some people don't. That's the case everywhere, but it as a general matter, is there, more sympathy towards the dogs?

Sneha Shrestha: Unfortunately, there are only a few individuals like, who genuinely care for and have deep concern for the wellbeing of these animals. For a significant number of people the fate of the street animals is of little importance and they may not care whether these animals live or die.

This lack of empathy or indifference towards the street animals can stem of various, factors. Such as a lack of awareness about animal welfare issues, cultural norms, or personal beliefs. Additionally, some people might prioritize their own needs and interests over the welfare of animals they consider to be outside their sphere of responsibility.

However, it's important to note that there are also many compassionate individuals who actively work towards improving the lives of the street animals. These animal lovers dedicate their time, resource and efforts to provide food, shelter, and medical care to those in need. They recognize the instant value of all living beings and understand that animal deserves compassionate care regardless of their status of circumstance.

Promoting awareness, education, and compassion towards animals is essential to gradually change the society attitudes to foster a more empathic approach to animal welfare.

Mariann Sullivan: The description of how people vary is typical of almost anywhere. It certainly sounds familiar to me. Let's talk a little bit about the shelter.

Sneha Shrestha: I started the shelter with the welfare of dogs. Already, in the shelter we have 170 dogs and other farm animals. And I started with the welfare of dogs. I later realized that not only is the welfare of dogs enough, so that's the reason I started farm animals welfare as well.

Mariann Sullivan: Tell us what the shelter is like, how many animals you have, where they live? Tell us about it. Well, if I were to come visit your shelter, what would I see?

Sneha Shrestha: Yeah, like my shelter is full with dogs. Like we have around 170 dogs and six pigs. Like recently, like I have lost one. I have lost one pig. And I have two buffaloes and 17 abandoned cows. And the sanctuary is full with community dogs. Like we don't call over here street dogs.

I always request people to call community dogs. We have 22 team members, like in the shelter, like, who are working for those animals. Among them, like I have eight technicians, one veterinarian, and seven paid technicians. Beside that, we have cleaners, dog catchers, dog handlers, ambulance drivers and the people to look after the farm animals as well. So, yeah, there are more than 170 dogs living in the shelter with other animals.

Mariann Sullivan: Am I right that you are in the process of moving?

Sneha Shrestha: Yeah, of course. I'm looking for the land. The reason is when I started like in 2015 there wasn't any houses. So now my shelter is surrounded by 32 households. The people who live over there, they started complaining against us and they already complained in the ward office against us, and they want us to move from there.

So we look at the center of the problem, but main problem is because these dog whom I rescued, you know, they all are from the street. And what I think is this is not only my responsibility. As a responsible person, an animal lover, I'm doing like what I can.

And I've been doing this for the last eight years. But what I think is this is the responsibility of government. So I keep asking the government, you know, to provide me the land, but they don't want to listen to anything. So many times I've visited government offices and what they think is that this is my problem, not their problem.

So at the moment, my main problem is to relocate the shelter, but I don't know where to move. And the people who live around the shelter want me to go from there, but I don't have another option, you know?

Mariann Sullivan: Yeah, I'm sorry that's happening. That sounds very hard. I really wanna go back also your work for farmed animals, because speaking of the government, the work that you're doing for farmed animals, if I understand correctly, isn't just that you have some in the shelter, but you're also trying to get laws or regulations to provide for better treatment.

Is that right?

Sneha Shrestha: Yes, you are right. Even though I started with the welfare of dogs, I later realized that not only is the welfare of dogs enough, but farm animals are also suffering equally. That the long distance live transport of buffalo is done in an inhumane way. You know, I myself travel in that truck to check how these animals are transported.

22, 24 hours long journey In a conjested space. You can imagine their life where no food or water is provided there, they're not even allowed to sit down. Their nose and tails are tied up so tightly that they bleed through their nose. They have broken horns, legs and wounds all over their body.

The live animal transportation criteria was implemented, I think like 15, 16 years ago. But still, there is no enforcement to these regulations and standards. Similarly, the working animals are forced to carry loads which are out of their capacity resulting in joint bone problem, eye problem...you can imagine, there are lots of problems. The conifinment and the cruelty they face might be evident. And calves being killed after birth. and all the abuse and exploitation made me start the advocacy for farm animals.

Even in 2019, we registered a case to the Supreme Court and the result of the case was in our favor. The court has ordered the implementation of the animal welfare draft as soon as possible, and we have also started to implement the farm animal standards in different provinces. We're not only working in Katmandu, but we're working in all the seven provinces for the welfare of these farm animals.

But it should not just be limited to paperwork. So that's the reason we are lobbying with the government to enforce it in a more serious and effective way.

Mariann Sullivan: Yeah, I know it sounds like very challenging and like the same challenges that we face here. I know that, you know, obviously most people who care deeply about animals and who care about farm animals are also interested in encouraging people not to eat them, which would really help in improving their treatment.

And I know that part of your work is to advocate for a plant-based diet. I'm just curious, I don't know a lot about the Nepalese diet. I don't know what people eat. Is this a huge transition from what people usually eat or does the diet that most people eat already have a lot of vegetable foods in it?

Sneha Shrestha: Yeah, of course. There is a wide range of traditional, Nepali vegan food. Nepali people eat rice and, dhal all the time. So if you remove dairy product from our daily food, like, it's already vegan.

So as a part the vegan project, we focus on educating women and the students in various schools and localities about the benefits of plant-based diets. In additional to providing valuable information, we also offer, like, after the session, we also offer vegan snacks and meals to them through our efforts, we have successfully transformed the mindset of many students and individuals inspiring them to adopt a vegan lifestyle.

This not only contributes to personal health, but also positively impact the environment and animal welfare. By showing the variety and deliciousness of vegan alternatives, we demonstrate that choosing plant-based option can be both nutritious and enjoyable. So our aim is to raise awareness about the positive impact of reducing the consumption of animal products and encourage individuals and students and to make a more sustainable choice for themself and the planet.

Overall, our vegan project is making significant change in promoting a plant-based lifestyle and fostering positive change among our participants.

Mariann Sullivan: So how do people respond? I mean, especially since the food that people eat is not so far off from already being completely plant-based. Do you get a good response? Do people respond to these arguments and to the information that you give them in a positive way? And is there a move towards to a completely plant-based diet?

Sneha Shrestha: In the start it was very hard. When I started promoting veganism, people even like did not know about the vegan word. And in Nepal, there are only few restaurants who have got vegan options.

Now because of our programs and... we're not only doing, like, community outreach program only in the schools and not only in the community. What we're doing is we're doing vegan chef trainings. We are training the chefs from different hotels and restaurants to cook vegan food.

So that's the reason people are changing. But in starting, it was very hard. When we're talking about plant-based and vegan, the community people used to laugh at us. And they're saying, "Oh, how, is it possible? People can't live without meat and dairy product."

But the main thing is now people are changing and veganism is growing and in Nepal we have like, if you go to any restaurant...I'm not saying you'll find vegan food in every restaurant, but there are a few vegan restaurants now. And beside that, now people started talking about veganism.

So I think that's the changes, you know?

Mariann Sullivan: Yeah, that sounds very promising. And similar to what's happening in other places as well. I mean, that's the attitude towards veganism, but do you find that attitudes towards animals, specifically the dogs, since the community dogs are such an important part of Nepal, but just animals in general. Do you find that they're more or less favorable than in the past? Are things changing?

Sneha Shrestha: Yeah, I started helping animals in 2015 when I started feeding the dogs in the street. People used to laugh at me. "Oh, you are mad. Like, are you mad? You are forgetting there are so many hungry people and homeless people are starving while you are looking for the food and you are feeding the dogs."

People are changing, you know, people are changing and the main thing is if you learn all those things from your schools, it was good. But the main problem is we don't have anything in our curriculum. We don't have to read about animal welfare. There is not even one subject or anything in our curriculum.

So that's the reason now what we're doing is we're talking with the government. We're not asking them to put all those veganism things, because they'll not listen. What we are saying to them is like, at least in the curriculum there should be some subject regarding animal welfare.

So children will learn compassion and to love animals from childhood.

Mariann Sullivan: Well, I'm sure that the work your doing as well is helping people. You know, a lot of people want to have good attitudes towards animals, but if they can't do anything to help them, it shuts them down. And when they see that it's possible and you're making it possible to care about animals, they're more open to it.

What about religion? What would you say is the role of religion in the way people see and treat animals?

Sneha Shrestha: If you talk about religion because in Nepal, like, my god, there are so many different castes and different kind of religions and in every religion there is good things and bad things, as well.

So, like personally as a vegan, what I'll say is in my culture, I'm Shrestha, okay? My surname is Shrestha. So in my culture there is a few good things, but if it comes to animals, like Nepal is the only one country who worship animals. We celebrate festivals, like, we worship cows, crows, dogs, and Napal is the only country. But at the same time, one day, like we'll see the animals and just what they want to do is like throw hot water, pour the vitamin, like we cut them with a knife.

So, I'm not saying without any...

it's very hard for me to say that, you know? Like there are so many religions where we see people are cruel towards animals. They tear animals with their hand and they kill them with their teeth. And there's so many festivals in Nepal, like maybe you have heard about. There is one festival.

In that festival. What people do is they throw one goat in the river and there are 20, 30 people just to kill one goat. So you can imagine their behavior towards animals.

Mariann Sullivan: Yeah, religion is confusing everywhere. But hopefully there can be progress there as well as in other places.

How about the government? I mean, I know you're having problems with the government regarding your, your shelter and, and you want understandably for them to step up more. But what about other kinds of reforms? Would you say that the government is receptive to working with animal advocates to improve conditions for animals in Nepal?

Sneha Shrestha: It is very sad that work, which should be done by the government, we're doing it from our side. We're trying our best to receive help and coordination from the government, but they're quite slow in the matter of animals.

If it comes to humans, like they're very fast, but when it comes to animals, they give less priority. Though there are welfare standards made, it is not followed seriously. People have this mindset that they are just animals. Why bother? In few of the campaigns, like our anti rabies, say if it comes to dog, like anti-rabies vaccination, spay-neuter, or rescue rabies suspected dogs, they coordinate with us.

But, in many cases, such as a banning of long-distance live animal transportation, they still ignore the guidelines implemented because it's been more than 13, 14 years. There are welfare standards, but they're not implementing it. So yeah, it is very difficult for us to coordinate with the government, in many cases.

Mariann Sullivan: I know that you mentioned that you do some work with children. Do you think things are changing? Are children who are growing up now more receptive to caring about animals than you've seen in the past?

Sneha Shrestha: Yeah, of course. What we're doing is we're going to the schools, we're teaching the children and especially school children are being educated about plant-based, about veganism, and the benefits of plant-based diet, about compassion. Additionally, they're taught to be more compassionate towards animals through video showing. And, we show them video of animal exploitation and the origin of dairy products and meat. So where the meat comes from. These lessons are conducted within a 45 minute session. Moreover, we formed the Compassion Club. And, if students are interested in learning more about the plant-based, compassion, and veganism like, adopting this lifestyle, we visit the farm animal sanctuary.

We even invite their parents too so they know how a factory farm looks, like, how they raise those cows, how they kill those animals. Even like we take them to the slaughter house and different kind of farms.

Mariann Sullivan: Yeah. No. It sounds like so many of the situations that you're facing are the same that everybody all over the world is facing. I'm so happy you were able to join us on Our Hen House today because it's so fascinating to find out what's happening in other parts of the world and to find out how it's different, but also to find out how it's so much the same, and how much can be accomplished by people like you who deeply care about animals. And you've put so much work into this, it's just unimaginable what you've created there in Katmandu.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Sneha.

Sneha Shrestha: Thank you so much.