Animal Welfare Fund by BRAC India - Hope and Care

The dog with the torn ear had been lying in the same place near a drain for three days. A scooter had hit him on Monday night. After that, he could not run. He could barely move. He found a little shade, lay down and waited for the pain to somehow go away.

Most people saw him but simply kept walking. Some complained that he was blocking the way. Most simply walked past. But Manaswini, a 27-year-old woman who had been feeding him for months, immediately knew something was wrong. He would normally run to her the moment he saw her, his tail wagging twice before he reached her. But that day, he did not even get up.

The food she left beside him remained untouched. His left leg was badly bent. His body was covered in dust. And his tail did not move at all. Manaswini wanted to help. But she had no car, no money for an expensive treatment and no idea which veterinary clinic would take him immediately. She sat beside him on the roadside, gently touched his head and whispered, "Wait, beta. Someone will come."

There are thousands of Manaswini across India. A young woman feeding street dogs from her own pocket. A rescuer borrowing a scooter to reach an injured animal. A shelter owner using her savings to buy medicines. A farmer trying to feed an abandoned cow. People who cannot walk away when an animal is suffering.

Their hearts are full. Their resources are not. Again and again, the same problems stand between an injured animal and treatment: money, transport, medicines and access to a trusted veterinary clinic. The suffering takes many forms. A street dog with a wound that will not heal during the monsoon. A cow abandoned after she stops giving milk, searching through garbage for something to eat. A pigeon whose wing is trapped and broken by kite string. A working animal carrying heavy loads while sores on its body grow worse.

They cannot tell us where it hurts. They cannot ask for help. They simply suffer in front of us. And & the people who do stop to help are often struggling too. Small shelters run on limited savings. Gaushalas struggle to buy fodder. Community feeders spend their own money filling bowls. In many towns, animal rescue vehicles and veterinary services are difficult to find.

India does not lack compassion. It lacks enough support to turn compassion into action. Helping animals also helps communities. Sterilization and vaccination programs help keep street dog populations healthy and reduce the risk of rabies. Feeding and caring for abandoned animals reduces suffering on the streets. When we learn to be kind to animals who cannot speak for themselves, we build a kinder society for everyone.

That is what the Animal Welfare Fund is for. Your donation can pay for the fuel and transport needed to take an injured dog from a roadside to a trusted veterinary clinic. It can help pay for surgery, medicines, X-rays and a safe place to recover. It can support sterilization and vaccination drives that prevent suffering before it begins.

It can provide food and fodder to verified shelters and gaushalas.It can help put water bowls and shade in place during the hot summer months, and provide blankets and straw during winter. It can also support treatment for working animals, so an animal helping a family earn a living is not left to suffer when it becomes injured or sick.

BRAC India provides this support through direct payments to verified veterinary clinics, direct purchases from verified vendors, and trusted rescue partners and shelters on the ground. Every case is tracked and reported. Every animal is treated with care.

The dog with the torn ear stayed at the clinic for three weeks. His broken bone was set. His wound healed. Slowly, he learned to stand again. One morning, Manaswini took him back to the same street where she had found him. She sat down with her steel bowl and called his name. He looked at her. Then his tail moved. Once. Twice. That little sound of a tail hitting the ground is what your donation helps make possible. Nothing more. Nothing less.