The Himalayan nature society, in association with the District Veterinary department and Tibet Charity, organised a vaccination camp for street dogs around Dharamsala as well as the Norbulingka Institute area. With a target of vaccinating 300 dogs in a span of three days, the project had a very good beginning with over 50 dogs being vaccinated in a span of 5 hours.

The dogs were captured in sacks and then given the injection. Vaccinated dogs were marked with red paint. The local people provided a lot of aid in terms of where dogs were to be found and in catching them too. In the course of this drive revealed the rising concerns of the people about how the Government has been dealing with the ever-growing problem of rabies in the region.

On further investigation it was noted that there is very little or no awareness amongst them about rabies, its treatment, and repercussions of ignoring a dog bite.

Also involved in this project were D.C Rana – SDM Dharamsala, Dr. K.C. Katoch, Senior Veterinary Officer, Dharamsala and Dr. Sujay Sharma, Mobile Veterinary Officer. The District Administration provided the vaccines, while the technical support and van was provided by the District Veterinary Department.

As part of our program in joining in with the rest of the world to celebrate World Rabies Day, and wipe out Rabies from the face of the globe, we carried out a free mass Anti-Rabies Vaccination program in and around Dharamsala.

As of the 29th of September 2008, when we celebrated World Rabies, camps were organized in various places in the region. On top of that we hired a vehicle to transport an outreach team of veterinarians, vet nurses and dog catchers around the locale.

The areas covered included Mcleodganj, TIPA, TCV, Tushita, Dharamkot, Forsythganj, Naddi, Norbulingka, Sarah and the Tibetan Transit School.

The team vaccinated more than 600 dogs

A series of talks were organized in schools and institutes to coincide with the vaccination program and inform students and the wider public about Rabies and its prevention.

All in all the program has been a big success and there was much appreciation of our effort in the public.

A local Indian Newspaper also carried the news of our activities.

We are very thankful to Tibet Charity Denmark, Animal SOS Denmark and all our other associates and volunteers for helping to make our campaign a big success.

With this we hope we have reduced the risk of Rabies in the region considerably.

But we hope to work on till we achieve our goal of Making Rabies History in the region.

We hope and pray for the same continued support and cooperation from one and all.

Updated on 15th October 2008 top

Tibet Charity Animal Care Section (TCACS) joined the global effort to eradicate rabies from the surface of the globe. Though it was celebrated on the 28th of September 2008 worldwide, we had to postpone the celebration by a day so as not to clash with other local events.

So on the 29th of September 2008 we organized a function aimed at creating public awareness about the disease. On this occasion we were very fortunate to have Dr. AK Gupta, Deputy Director of Himachal Animal Husbandry Department and Dr. Tsering Dhundup from Tibetan Delek Hospital as our Chief Guest and Guest of Honor respectively. Besides these two the function was also attended by Dr. Katoch, Senior Vet. Doctor Dharamsala, and Dr. Arvind Sharma, the Veterinary Surgeon at Government Veterinary Hospital Shapur. The latter also happens to be our Honorary Consultant.

The function started with the welcome address by the director of Tibet Charity. He also related various activities undertaken by Tibet Charity’s Animal Care section since its inception. He explained that so far Tibet Charity Animal Care Section has neutered more than 450 dogs and has treated more than 500 dogs in and around Dharamsala. Tibet Charity Animal Care has also being actively involved in fighting for the eradication of rabies in the region.

He thanked the management of Himachal Husbandry Department, the Deputy Commissioner at Dharamsala, Tibet Charity Denmark, and all the volunteers of SOS Animal Denmark, past and present, for their co operation and good work.

Apart from explaining what preventative measures need to be taken to avoid getting rabies, Tsering Dhundup of Delek Hospital also explained the steps that need to be taken if one is bitten by a rabid animal. He related the story of a monk who died due to his own negligence in failing to get the post exposure vaccinations. This, he said, should be an eye opener to all those who take animal bites lightly.

Dr AK Gupta expressed his appreciation for the work being done by Tibet Charity Animal Care Section and he and Dr Katoch pledged their full cooperation whenever their assistance is required in future.

Our Harmony Consultant, Dr A. Sharma, explained the risk of the disease in India. He highlighted the steps that need to be taken to keep the animals and humans free from rabies.

Finally Mrs.Tsering Lhamo, the Nurse-in-charge at Tibet Charity Health Care, vividly explained to the assembled public the causes and the facts of rabies in human beings. She also explained how we can save ourselves from getting rabies and the necessary steps to be taken if one is bitten by a rabid animal. She used a PowerPoint presentation to make her talk clearer and more engaging.

Once the presentations were over, a free Anti rabies vaccination program was initiated which went on throughout the following 4 days. Our aim was to vaccinate at least 500 dogs in that time.

In the evening a public talk was given at TCV lower Dharamsala for the schoolchildren. During the lecture the causes of rabies were explained to staff and students and they were told how to avoid getting rabies themselves.

At the end of the talk there was a Q&A session to clear up any doubts and misconceptions in the minds of the audience regarding the disease.

A similar presentation will be given in two more schools. With these programs we hope that we will successfully raise public awareness and we also hope our efforts will bear fruit in the long run by helping to eradicate the disease completely in the region.

We thank the British Veterinary Association and the Worldwide Veterinary Service for their continued support and encouragement.

For sometime now, there have been some fatal cases relating to rabid dogs in the Tibetan settlements around Dharamsala. At least two deaths have been attributed to Rabies.

The situation in the Tibetan settlement Bir is no different. The people have sighted two rabid dogs that bit quite a number of people and animals. Though these two dogs have been stoned to death by the public, the fear of rabid dogs is very much in the minds of the public, especially after there are some dogs that got bitten by these rabid dogs.

With this fear in mind, the veterinary section of Tibet Charity was called to vaccinate the animals there and also provide necessary treatment to the dogs that were bitten and also to those dogs with some other ailments.

So the consultant veterinary doctor of Tibet Charity, Dr. Arvind Sharma,

a highly experienced surgeon at veterinary hospital Shahpur, was invited to visit the place and organize a camp there.

He along with Mr. Bishan Das of Tibet Charity provided Anti- Rabies vaccination to exactly 98 dogs and gave injections/treatment for dermatitis/mange to more than that number of dogs. Lastly we had a case of a young puppy with a prolapsed rectum that needed special surgery. In spite of repeated surgeries on this dog in the past, not much help was seen. But now with the kind and experienced hands of Dr. Arvind Sharma working on it, we are very hopeful of a positive result.

Here we were very happy to see the newly formed Animal Welfare Club having young and enthusiastic volunteers. They have been

instrumental in organizing this camp and they had caught most of the dogs before our team actually got there. Though the manner in which they caught the dogs and brought them to the camp was very amateurish, funny and rough at times, it made the task of our veterinary team much simpler. It also saved them a lot of time and energy. The Director of Tibet Charity congratulated the team on their new association and promised all possible help in their endeavor to help the stray animals.

They in turn thanked Tibet Charity for organizing this camp and especially thanked Dr. Arvind Sharma for sparing his precious time for the benefit of the animals. They also promised to continue their good work in the future.

Updated on 28th July 2008 top

On 2nd June 2008, at the request of one Mr Ghosh, Dr Mark, Dr Sonya, Maria, Louise and Visnu headed for the small village of Khanara, 10 km from McLeod Ganj and set up a mobile desexing clinic – in Mr Ghosh’s living room!

Under the curious watch of Ghosh’s family and neighbours, we speyed 6 females (all strays), castrated one owned male and performed a vasectomy on one stray male.

Our group of 5, Louise, Maria, Bishan Das, and Drs Sonya and Mark, arrived at Tashi Jong Monastery on the evening of the 24th. We could see that there were quite a few strays in the area, but some had the noticeable ear notch indicating they had previously been neutered. After a meeting with the nun who co-ordinated the camp, Ji Dok Snim, and the head monk, Rinpoche, we set up the equipment in two vacant rooms in the grounds of the monastery. Again we were fed an excellent dinner and put up in rooms.

11 dogs were caught for surgery the next day, 8 females and 3 males. The surgeries went smoothly, even though it was our first time doing vasectomies on the males as opposed to castrations. Once the anatomy of the structures of the spermatic cord were identified, the procedure was relatively straightforward. The second room was used as a recovery room, as was the sun-drenched balcony. All but 2 of the males were kept overnight for further post-operative monitoring.

Once again, the dogs were a lot more aware on the second day, and only 3 males were caught. These were vasectomised. Another 2 males looked after by local Tibetans were also brought in for castration. The dogs from the day before had all recovered well, and were released throughout the day. One seemed to enjoy the balcony and returned, and was still there when we left.

Before leaving that afternoon, we left behind instructions for post-operative wound care, and also medicine to treat a couple of dogs with sarcoptic mange.

Updated on 11th June 2008.

On May 22, Drs Sonya and Mark, 2 final year Danish vet students Maria and Louise, and our indispensable vet nurse Bishan Das, drove 3 hours to one of the satellite TCV schools in Suja for our first camp. A couple weeks earlier, one of the young students at the school died after being bitten by a suspect rabid dog sometime in April. They had since contacted us, and had a camp arranged with Director Tsering.

On arrival, we were greeted by one of the science teachers, who became our point of contact for this camp. Like everyone else we met, he was extremely welcoming, helpful, and sympathetic to our cause. After an excellent dinner by candlelight (due to power outages), we had a brief discussion about the school, and our aims over the next few days. During this discussion, a couple of interesting points came up.

First, despite rabies being relatively common and well known in these areas (and all of India), there were still many misconceptions about the disease. No one we spoke to understood that rabies is only passed on by the inoculation of saliva from an infected dog in the last 10 (or so) days of its life when it is showing clinical signs.

Secondly, it seemed that a few days before our arrival, someone had arranged for a truck to come and round up local stray dogs to be taken away. Apparently they were simply relocated to another area. This seemed to happen fairly regularly, especially when there was any sort of incident involving a stray dog. During our stay, we tried to impress on a few teachers and students the disadvantages of this practice- mainly that of allowing a new, alien group of dogs to inhabit the area, possibly bringing in new diseases, as well as causing conflicts with any local dogs that had been missed by the removal crews.

The other immediate downside of this mass relocation (approx 20-40 animals) meant that they had not been able to catch any dogs for us that day! So we went to bed hoping the next morning would be more rewarding.

The next morning at 8am, after another excellent breakfast of toast and eggs, we went over to our operations area- the courtyard of one of the dormitories, a square shaped building with an open area in the centre- where we set up 2 operating tables and a workbench, with a sheet of tarpaulin as our roof. At any time we had at least 1 student helping. These students had strong interests in animals, as well as having a more scientific mind (and of course, not being upset by the sight of blood and guts).



There were _ females and _ male. As we began operating, another group of students managed to catch another _ dogs, _females and _ males. However, they were finding it more and more difficult to catch any dogs, as by now, they were all very aware of what was going on. We realised that the mass roundup a few days earlier had turned normally very friendly dogs into nervous, unapproachable animals, that could only be caught by stealth/force. There were also a few dogs with suspect sarcoptic mange. These were given their first dose of ivermectin.

Updated on 4th June 2008

On 29 May 2008, a staff member of Tibet Charity was bitten on the face and arm by a dog in an unprovoked attacked outside the TC headquarters.

The black and white dog, immediately suspected to be rabid, fled downhill towards lower Dharamsala. Armed with tranquilisers and a blow dart, Dr Mark and Vishnu prepared to capture the dog but as they traced the dog’s path, it soon became evident from reports that the same dog bitten at least 5 other people and countless dogs, both owned and stray.

The dog was sighted later that same afternoon in lower Dharamsala. Mark and Vishnu followed it throughout the village and were able to tranquilise it after several attempts with the blow dart, but not before it had bitten at least one other dog as it was being chased. Once the drugs started to take effect, the dog crawled into a drain pipe and had to be coaxed out with a make shift pole catching device, upon which it was ensnared in a sack and brought back to the clinic.

The dog was observed for 24 hours in a cage. Its erratic aggressive behaviour, plus other clinical signs such as drooling and an increasing inability to swallow, left little doubt that it was rabid. The vets made the decision to humanely destroy the dog

before the disease progressed any further. First Attempt to catch to rabid dog The following day most of the stray and owned dog population of McCleod Ganj, as well as about 15 in lower Dharamsala, were immunised against rabies.

The TC staff member who was originally bitten received immunoglobulins and began a course of multiple vaccinations at the local hospital. The prognosis should be fair to good with this treatment.

At the time of writing, no other dogs in the immediate area with similar symptoms have been reported. However, it is certain that there are some dogs that where bitten that day who were not immunised prior to or after being attacked. It still remains as to whether or not these dogs will show signs in the weeks to come.

Updated on 5th June 2008

With the arrival of Dr. Zinger Igor from Israel and with the formal

appointment of Dr. R. S. Kistwaria from the Veterinary College at Palampur as our honorary consultant, Tibet Charity is happy to announce the Veterinary activities are in full swing.

On 4th April 2008, a meeting was held with Dr. R.S. Kistwaria, Dr. Zinger Igor, Dr. Gunver Jull, Mr. Tsering Thundup and Mr. Bishan Dass participate.

The meeting was focused on making plans for organizing our

activities for the year 2008. The meeting also touched upon the need to restrict our activities to treating stray dogs and such dogs owned by various people.

The decision was also taken to organize Dog shows where the owner of the best such dog would be awarded a prize.

With the arrival of two female dogs hit by cars, the vet clinic became fully functional from 6th April 2008.

Updated on 18th of April 2008
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As part of our animal welfare program, veterinary camps were organized at Rewalsar (a holy place for the Buddhists and called Tsopema in Tibetan), Sherabling (a quiet and peaceful monastery in the middle of a jungle close to Bir), Sidhpur (in collaboration with Dr. Barbara’s clinic) and Norbulingka (an Institute dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan Arts and Craft) from 17th to 27th May 2007.

With active and positive support from the local community in these areas, all the camps were big success.

The camps were organised with the help of Doctor Knut Bach-Gansmo and Doctor Ursula Bach- Gansmo from Norway. They were assisted ably in their work by two vet nurses- Ms. Anna Carwa Bach Arvidsson from Sweden and Ms. Louise Jandorf from Denmark. And of course our own Bishan Das proved more than useful as always. We thank all the local helpers and the volunteers for making our program a big success. Click to view Data

Updated on 5th of June 2007
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After doing a good job in the Veterinary Clinic here in the Tibet Charity house and after the success of the Veterinary Camp at Bir, the volunteer veterinary Doctors decided to organize Veterinary Camps in the Tibetan Schools in and around Dharamsala.

Among the schools the first camp was organized at Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarah and thereafter at the TCV Schools in Dharamsala, Suja and Gopalpur.

S.No	Schools	Sterilization	Rabies vaccination
1.	I.H.T.S Sarah	11 dogs & 1 cat	15 dogs
2.	T.C.V Suja	11 dogs	20 dogs
3.	T.C.V Dharamsala	5 dogs	65 dogs
4.	T.C.V Gopalpur	20 dogs	30 dogs

Besides normal treatment the number of dogs and cats vaccinated or sterilized are as under.

Updated on 23th of March 2007
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A three days Animal Welfare Camp was organised at the Tibetan Settlement, Bir from the 5th to the 7th of February 2007 with the kind support from the office of the Settlement Officer, Bir Tibetan Society.

The camp was organised under the medical supervision of Else Randi Bergerud, a veterinary doctor from Norway. She was assisted in her work by Caroline Gulsvik from Norway and Bishan Das, a staff of Tibet Charity.

During the three days, they provided Rabies Vaccination and Ivesmectin injection for the control of parasite infection to 120 dogs. Besides that they sterilized 15 dogs and treated around 100 dogs for various injuries or skin diseases.

The public there showed much appreciation of the job being done and they were seen helping the camp in bringing dogs. The Settlement Officer too called us and expressed his deep appreciation for the work done.

Seeing the magnitude of the need there, we have decided to organise one more camp with the same group on the 12th of this month.

We take this opportunity to thank the volunteers, the staff of Settlement Office, Bir Tibetan Society and the general public in Bir for making this camp a big success.

Updated on 8th of February 2007   top

With the arrival of Else Randi Bergerud and Caroline Gulsvik from Norway on the 29th of January 2007, we are very happy to write here that we could reopen the veterinary clinic in the house.

From the very next day we have been able to start treating sick dogs and sterilizing some of the dogs in and around Mcleodganj.

Updated on 8th of February 2007    top