New Beginnings, Old Battles, and the Animals at the Heart of It All
Since our last newsletter in May, we have welcomed a new grantee, watched a legal battle over street dogs take difficult turns, cheered on a puppy who beat paralysis, and welcomed a new elephant to the herd at WRRC's Elephant Care Facility. There has been a great deal of showing up, by our grantees, by animals who refused to give in, and by the people who support this work.
Here is what this period looked like.
A New Voice in the Fight, Welcome, Peedu's People
We are thrilled to welcome Peedu's People as the newest Help Animals India grantee, based in Mohali, Punjab, and working across surrounding areas.
Peedu's People are perhaps best known for one thing most organisations overlook: the horses. In India, working horses, mules, and donkeys are among the most invisible animals in the welfare conversation. They carry loads, pull carts, and work in heat that would ground most things, and when they are injured, abandoned, or overworked, very few people show up for them. Peedu's People do. Their equine cruelty prevention work is hands-on and uncompromising, backed by legal action under laws that protect working animals. Alongside this, they run Animal Birth Control (ABC) and rabies programmes for community dogs, humane education for young people, and adoption drives, with over 1,500 sterilisations, 3,000+ vaccinations, and 300+ cruelty cases handled to their name.
Their most recent case introduced them to our donors and supporters. Chini is a young foal who was attacked by a pack of feral dogs while foraging on the streets with her mother. The team at Peedu's People arrived quickly, gave urgent first aid, and administered the rabies and tetanus vaccinations she needed. A month of patient, attentive care followed. Chini has almost fully recovered, and her story is exactly the kind Peedu's People handle every day.
Help us support Peedu's People and grantees across India and Nepal.
When Surat Flooded, Prayas Did Not Stop
Surat has been living through one of the worst monsoon floods in recent memory. In the first week of July 2026, record rainfall- 358mm in a single 24-hour period in some areas, inundated homes, roads, and entire neighbourhoods. At least 24 people lost their lives and over 3,800 were evacuated. For animals on the streets, there was no evacuation plan. That is where Prayas Team Environment came in. A Help Animals India grantee based in Surat, Prayas ran their rescue helpline around the clock, carrying out over 180 animal rescues a day at the height of the flooding, even as volunteers returned home to find their own houses under three to four feet of water, and their office under two and a half feet. They kept going anyway.
Support Prayas Team Environment's flood rescue work in Surat.
Goodbye, Bheema
Bheema's life began in heartbreak. His mother, rescued after a serious accident while heavily pregnant, went into labour during treatment and passed away shortly after giving birth, her final glance resting on the tiny calf she had fought to bring into the world. Raised at our grantee Compassion Unlimited Plus Action - CUPA's Hebbal shelter, he decided early on that he was a dog; his closest companions had four paws, not four hooves. When he moved to CUPA’s Large Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (LARRC) in 2012, he became one of its very first and most beloved residents: gentle, stubborn, hilarious, and known for expressing his affection via enthusiastic head butts that occasionally sent people airborne.
For nearly 15 years, he was not just a resident but the quiet, watchful presence that made every frightened new arrival feel safe. We will miss him more than words can say. Run free, Bheema.
Support CUPA LARRC and the sanctuaries that give rescued animals a lifetime of love.
The Supreme Court Order and the Fight for India's Street Dogs
One of the defining stories of this period has been the Supreme Court of India's order on community dogs, and the confusion it has generated on the ground. The order allows for the removal of community dogs from certain public institutional spaces. What it does not do is permit harm, mass relocation, or the abandonment of Animal Birth Control (ABC). But interpretation has been loose, and the consequences have been real.
On May 19, 2026, the Supreme Court refused to modify or recall its earlier order, a setback, but not the end of the road. ABC remains the law of the land. The ABC Rules mandate catch, neuter, vaccinate, recover, and return-to-origin. Science is clear that removing or relocating community dogs disrupts territories, increases conflict, and restarts the breeding cycle. India has a national target of Zero Rabies Deaths by 2030. Getting there requires more ABC and anti-rabies vaccination, not relocation, not cruelty.
Former Union Minister Mrs Maneka Gandhi shared a video cutting through the noise, which we amplified. We also published a detailed blog post explaining what the order does and does not say and where the real concerns lie.
Support humane ABC and anti-rabies work across India and Nepal
WRRC's Elephants: Relearning What They Were Born to Do
The Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC)'s Elephant Care Facility (ECF) in Bangalore is one of Help Animals India's longest-supported grantees, a sanctuary for rescued elephants who have spent their lives in conditions they were never meant to endure.
Some of the herd have been spending time in the pond, doing something elephants are meant to do: playing, socialising, and soaking in water. In the wild, elephants drink up to 200 litres a day and spend hours in social contact. Most captive elephants in India have neither. At the ECF, they do. The team also works with feeding enrichment, hiding fruits in trees and along pathways so the elephants forage naturally, reawakening instincts that captivity had suppressed.
This work costs approximately Rs. 1,85,000 (about USD 2000) per elephant per month (in USA can cost at least 4 times that amount!) , and the need for sustained support is constant.
Help fund the rehabilitation of India's captive elephants at WRRC's ECF.
Three Animals Who Beat the Odds
Some stories are about scale and policy. And some are about one animal, one team, and the refusal to give up.
Duggu arrived at Varanasi for Animals (VFA), a Help Animals India project in Varanasi, as a tiny puppy who could not walk. She had Canine Distemper, her hind legs were paralysed, and weeks of dragging herself along the ground had badly wounded both legs. The VFA veterinary team got to work: calcium supplements, Neurokind, daily physiotherapy. Patience, consistency, and a great deal of showing up. Duggu started moving, then walking, then running. She beat the paralysis and the Distemper, and has now found a home. A special thank-you to volunteer Khushi, whose quick thinking gave Duggu her chance.
In Gurgaon, a kitten named Mishti arrived at People for Animals (PFA) Gurgaon, a Help Animals India grantee, after being attacked by dogs. Small, and with the odds against her, she healed under the team's care.
And then there is Dolly, also at PFA Gurgaon, who arrived with both forelegs crushed. Over a year of dedicated treatment, she healed. Today she runs on all four legs.
Donate to help more animals like these get the care they need.
On the Ground: VFA and PFA Gurgaon
In the summer heat, Varanasi for Animals (VFA) continued placing water bowls across Varanasi for community animals, a simple act with an outsized effect. Each month, VFA carries out dozens of rescues, brings hundreds of dogs into the ABC programme, and handles cases ranging from accidental injuries and surgery to Distemper and Parvo. We are grateful to WVS (World Veterinary Service) for their continued partnership.
There was also a moment worth sharing. Help Animals India has run the Sarnath Animal Welfare project for many years, a community animal welfare programme in the sacred city of Sarnath. Members of the VFA and Sarnath team attended a talk by Bhante Pannakara at the Mahabodhi Stupa in Deer Park, Sarnath, and saw Aloka the Peace Dog, an Indian-origin rescue known for accompanying Buddhist monks on peace walks. Seeing him there, where the Buddha first taught, was a reminder that kindness to animals and spiritual practice are not separate things.
At PFA Gurgaon, the standard of care has been clear in two ways. Their ABC programme currently has a 0% mortality rate, the result of careful pre-op assessment, methodical surgery, and attentive post-operative monitoring. And they have built a dedicated ward for their blind residents: dogs who have lost their sight now have a space designed specifically for them, calm, predictable, and built around their specific needs. These animals are not being managed. They are being cared for.
Support VFA, PFA Gurgaon, and grantees across India and Nepal.
Sneha's Care: A Clinic Taking Shape in Nepal
In the Kathmandu Valley, Sneha's Care, a Help Animals India grantee, is nearing completion of a new sanctuary, shelter, and clinic. Help Animals India has supported the construction of the clinic, and the walls are rising steadily. When complete, it will give the team better living spaces for rescued animals, stronger medical care, and long-term security for the work they do every day.
They are almost there. Let's help them get over the line.
Support Sneha's Care and their new clinic.
The Dog and Cat Meat Trade: The Fight Continues
India's ban on the dog and cat meat trade exists on paper. Enforcement remains another matter. Dogs are still being stolen from the streets of Assam, Tripura, and neighbouring states and smuggled into markets in Nagaland and Mizoram. The cat meat trade in parts of South India continues. Our grantees, Just Be Friendly (JBF) in Guwahati, Blue Cross of India, and PFA chapters, are on the frontlines, intercepting consignments, rescuing animals, and pursuing those responsible.
We have updated our blog with the full picture, the history, the rescues, and what still needs to happen.
Support those doing this hard daily work.
Compassion in Unexpected Places
In Hyderabad, STRAW India, a Help Animals India grantee, partnered with Robinhood Academy for the Paws & Paint campaign: students painted water bowls for community dogs and placed them around the city. Humane education builds compassionate communities, and it starts with giving young people the chance to act on their kindness.
We also paused to mark Saga Dawa, the most sacred month in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, observed as Vesak Day in other traditions, as a time for compassion and mercy toward all living beings. And on Bakrid, the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice, we made a plea for kindness and for sparing animals' lives.
Thank You
Since May, this work has not slowed down. It has spread. A new grantee has joined. Animals have recovered and found homes. Our grantees continue showing up, in courts, on the streets, in operating theatres, and in ponds, for animals who have no one else.
Thank you for being part of this. Please donate if you can, and follow us on social media where we post updates from the field almost every day.
With love and determination,
The Help Animals India Team
#TogetherWeCan #MakeADifference #HelpAnimalsIndia
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