Dog health impacts people and wildlife

Your donations help Himalayan families. When we deliver vets and vaccines, communities have a humane and effective alternative to manage dogs.

Dog bites don't just happen to people. Dogs often bite other dogs, occasionally cats (the ones that don't manage to escape into a tree), and more often than we are aware, dogs chase and bite wildlife. In the photo above, a jackal is killed by three dogs.

As soon as the news gets out that there are vets in the village, people point us toward animals that need rescuing. Many of the injured dogs we meet have injuries close to their face, in vulnerable areas like their ears and eyes. In the photo above, a dog has its eyelid stitched together by our veterinarian.

The dog above attempted to fight off several males for access to an un-neutered female. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. He was curled up in a corner and flies were beginning to swarm around him. He also suffered an injury to his ear. Both his eye and ear injuries were treated by our vets.

Unable to lick their faces, dogs attempt to alleviate the discomfort of the wound by scratching. This only leads to further irritation and even infection.

Lucky for the dogs and cat in the photographs above, our vets arrived on time. We cleaned their wounds, and stitched them back together. We saved their eyes and their lives!

Dogs are often abandoned if they get injured either because they can no longer work, or because the pain of their injuries makes them aggressive and a danger to people. If we didn't arrive and respond on time, their wounds could have become chronically infected and led to a slow death. The dog above looks perfectly well after we patched up his eye.

Unfortunately, wildlife usually die from dog attacks. Wildlife are easily stressed, and rarely recover from serious injury. Once injured, wild animals are unable to hunt for themselves or forage for food. They either die slowly from their injuries or are easily killed by other wild animals. This marten wandered too close to the village, and suffered dog bites to its chest and torso. It died soon after.

For dogs that get into trouble for biting, life isn't easy either. This dog had allegedly bitten two people. His owners were warned to keep their dog locked up or risk it being poisoned. Both alternatives were not ideal.

This may appear inhumane for the dog, but for the people who live in the remote corners of the Himalaya, the fear of being badly bitten by a dog is very real and frightening. Like the animals in the photos above, a person could lose all ability to work in the mountains if he or she is badly hurt by a dog. There are few easy choices in the Himalaya.

When we deliver vets and vaccines, communities have a humane and effective alternative to manage dogs. Your donations help Himalayan families.