Sammy is paralysed, Pixie is blind, Toto lost a leg, Peanut had a dislocated spine, and Dancer had a broken pelvis. All five of these dogs were suffering on Kathmandu’s streets, on the verge of death, maimed by other dogs, stricken by disease or hit by cars. But now they’re all living healthy lives abroad, adopted by loving families.  

These dogs are getting a second chance thanks to a multi-organisational effort called ‘Don’t Panic Nepali Dogs, We’ll Find You a Home’. This Facebook group of dog-loving individuals is not a charity, rather its members donate their time and money to help rehabilitate the most derelict of Nepali dogs. The more than 1,200 members of this group support local efforts to rehabilitate, vaccinate, chip, foster and send the dogs overseas.

There is a long list of dogs still waiting for their turn to fly to a better life, such as Captain and Ambu. Captain has one eye and was found in a terrible state at Swayambhunath, while Ambu, a Himalayan mastiff, was found starving and weak in Kalimati. Both are currently recovering and recuperating with Kathmandu families. In the next few months, they will join some 100 other Nepali street dogs that have made their way to foreign countries.

Ritu Thapa, one of the group’s three organisers, has fostered many dogs since the ‘Don’t Panic...’ formally started two years ago. Thapa, a full-time administration worker at Bhote Koshi Power Company, spends her free time organising the care and treatment of these canines.

The process starts with a call from concerned locals, who get in touch with Thapa regarding the dishevelled dogs they’ve encountered. Thapa then organises taxis or friends to pick up the dogs and take them to the Animal Medical Centre, where they’re are treated for whatever ails them. Most have been hit by cars, attacked by larger dogs, stricken by disease or malnourished, and left to fend for themselves. Following treatment and vaccination, Thapa finds temporary foster families for the dogs locally, and chips them before putting them on planes to go overseas.

Vetting for the dogs’ foster families is rigorous, she says. The group has questionnaires and home visits for those doing the fostering, to ensure that the canines will be well treated. The families must have enough time to properly take care of the dogs, for instance, because serious health issues make the dogs more demanding. For many carers, it is hard to let the dogs go.

“They fall in love with the dogs so it is hard for these people to let go,” says Thapa. The first time Thapa sent one of her foster dogs overseas, she cried.

Toto, before and after. 

Because the group is run completely on a case-by-case basis, the flow of dogs is unpredictable. Julia Krepska, who also helps organise the group, says there is no specific criteria for what type of dogs they take, but they often end up with the “worst of the worst”. On visits to certain shelters, she will look for the dogs that will be put down.

“At the end of the day it’s about finding a good home for these dogs,” says Krepska, who is based in the UK. “Shelters just put them down since they know nobody will adopt them. It’s not the shelters’ fault, but it’s the reality.”

Pramada Shah, president of Animal Nepal, says about 10 percent of the dogs the organisation takes in have to be euthanised because they have incurable diseases or are completely paralysed.

While she admits being skeptical initially, she now believes that the group is doing something good.

“I used to think they were spending a lot of money sending these dogs overseas. But when I see how the dogs’ lives are transformed, I think it’s really wonderful,” says Shah. “They are changing the lives of the dogs that they deal with.”

Animal Nepal, as well as the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre, rehabilitates the dogs and look after them. Thapa’s group sometimes takes dogs to Animal Nepal and the KAT Centre to be cared for, but she also takes dogs from these organisations to be sent overseas.

“Taking in a handicapped or blind dog is really quite special,” says Shah. “I’ve taken in dogs that are blind or have problems, I know how hard it is to take care of them.”

The high cost of sending the dogs overseas is something many people criticise, says Thapa. For each dog, the group raises up to $1,300 to rehabilitate and get the canine to a rescue centre overseas, where they will be adopted locally. Those centres are mostly based in Canada and the US.

“Critics think that the amount that we are raising can go to dogs here,” says Thapa. While she recognises that this sum of money could go a long way in Kathmandu, there are already several organisations doing good work, and the dogs that she send abroad are among the most desperate. Because of their conditions—paralysis or blindness, for example—they are generally undesirable to the local population, which covets breed dogs, she says.

 

Dancer, before and after.

Because of the costs associated with sending the dogs overseas, money is raised on a case-by-case basis. They do take individual adoptions, from specific people, if they pass a vetting process similar to what foster families are put through. Individual adopters are also expected to contribute to the cost of rehabilitating dogs and shipping them overseas.

Krepska admits that the cost of flying a dog abroad is expensive, and the best way to lower costs is to have volunteers add dogs to their luggage if they are already travelling to certain destinations. “If people are flying to the US or Canada, let us add a dog to their luggage, it doesn’t cost them much,” she says. While the group has no plans to expand their dog-saving ways formally, it is always on the lookout for help, says Krepska.  

Alongside Dr Daniela Drees, Krepska helps Thapa with fundraising, making contact with foreign rescue organisations, and keeping up with the dogs’ stories to share with the group. It is run entirely for free by the three women, and the money is raised through group members’ goodwill.

Keeping track of the dogs’ lives is one thing the group makes sure it does. For some reason, a majority of the dogs find their way to Canada, says Krepska. Videos, pictures and stories are all shared by the new families overseas.

Dancer, Peanut, Pixie and Toto are all now in Canada. Dancer even found fame in the US through the Instagram account of the website The Dodo, because her pelvic problems led her to walk in a peculiar way, and she was later adopted by a Toronto family. Peanut, now named Dobby, found his feet with another Canadian family. Three-legged Toto, who was hit by a truck in Kathmandu, celebrated his first birthday with his Canadian family in March. Pixie was also adopted in Canada, while wheelchair-bound Sammy now lives in New York.

Seeing the dogs in new homes is the most important and gratifying part of the work that the group does. Seeing them run around, well fed and watered, and loving life is the best part.

“People ask what makes us do this, and this is the reason why,” says Thapa.

Photos: Don’t Panic Nepali Dogs, We’ll Find You a Home Facebook