Safegaurding Your Pets Against Air Pollution Vol XII , Issue No 12 , Dec 2019 | Page 28

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TREE OF LIFE FOR ANIMALS (TOLFA)
Enriching the Lives of Street Animals in Rajasthan
By Jo Carnegie*
A
nimals who are suffering
know they can fi nd shelter at
the Tree of Life For Animals
charity (TOLFA). Nestled in a green
oasis in the foothills of the Aravalli
mountain range, Tree of Life For
Animals charity was set up in 2005
by Rachel Wright, a veterinary nurse
from the U.K. Since then TOLFA has
helped over 1,70,000ǜ sick & injured
animals, spayed/neutered more
thanǜ 22,000ǜ dogs, vaccinated more
thanǜ 28,000ǜ dogs against rabies and
received international recognition
for its work.
A large part of TOLFA’s work is their
rescue project, as well as rabies
vaccinations
and
sterilisation
programmes to keep the local dog
population at a healthy number.
TOLFA is open every day of the year
and has a rescue ambulance on-
call day and night, answering calls
from the public about sick or injured
animals.
An estimated 35 million street dogs
live in India, many of whom have
hard lives of pain, injury and abuse.
India has the highest death rate from
rabies in the world, with 97 percent
of cases being caused by a dog bite.
Without vaccinations, rabies is fatal
and it causes the carrier horrendous
suffering. TOLFA’s aim is to eventually
make Rajasthan rabies-free. Every
dog and cat that comes into TOLFA is
sterilised and vaccinated. They have
a small tag in their ear so local people
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know that they are safe and aren’t
carrying rabies.
Education is at the heart of TOLFA’s
mission. A lot of cruelty and abuse
towards street dogs and cats is
due to fear and ignorance. TOLFA
runs education programmes in
local schools to teach children
about rabies prevention and animal
welfare. TOLFA’s belief is that people
and animals can live happily and
harmoniously together and that
animals contribute a huge amount
to society. We have already seen the
effect of TOLFA’s work in both the
local and wider community: there
are many caregivers who look out for
the animals and have built positive
relationships with them.
When TOLFA fi rst started, it had
one kennel and one basic operating
theatre. Now it’s a busy and bustling
hospital, with individual kennels for
Creature Companion | December 2019 • Vol. XII • Issue 12 • Noida
more than two hundred dogs and
tranquil open areas for our ‘Golden
Oldies’ senior dogs. There is also a
quarantine block, a puppy house, a
paralysed yard (road traffi c accidents
are very common) and a mange
block.
The organisation also has a pet/
owner clinic where owners are asked