Problems we face

 There are many problems in Sri Lanka, and we find animals in horrendous conditions.  There are some cases that we see over and over again, although we are noticing some change in Negombo, and things do seem to be gradually improving.

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    Burn/acid victims

 The first 3 dogs all had boiling water thrown over them, the forth acid.  People throw the water to shoo them away (also stones).  Part of our education project is to teach respect for animals, and not to throw boiling water or stones at any animal.  All three dogs had severe burns and infections from the wounds, they were all treated and are now well. The acid was thrown on the dog, seemingly because the neighbour did not want the dog to win at our dog show.

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Snake bites 

 

 

 

 There are poisonus snakes in Sri Lanka.  Cathy (above) was bitten by a Cobra.  This caused her face to swell, and a large infected wound.  Cathy was lucky to be given an antidote in time to save her life.  Sadly, another dog bitten by the same snake died. 

   

 

 

 

     Road traffic accidents

We find numerous dog and cats with new and old wounds from being knocked down on the busy roads.  Some we are able to find homes for and treat their injuries, some are suffering too much and/or have spinal injuries, and are put to sleep.

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

       Tumours, prolepses, hernias, transmitted venereal disease (TVD)

 These are such common problems in , especially with the stray dogs.  They are treated at Rohan’s surgery or again put to sleep if the disease is too far gone to treat.

 

 

 

 

        Rope embedded

 This again is sadly very common.  People will put rope, chain or a collar round a young dogs neck, and as the dog grows they get embedded into the neck causing major infections.  This is treatable, and with a lot of cleaning and care the dog will become well after treatment.

 

Litters of puppies/kittens dumped

Puppies and kittens are found all the time dumped in rubbish tips, ditches, into the canal etc, or stray dogs/cats have litters and are unable to look after them.  We rescue as many as we can find homes for, at the least we will feed and worm them, but until we get more local people to spay and neuter their animals the problem will continue.  We offer a free service funded by HAAW, so that local people can have their animals operated on at no cost to them.  This is a very successful program, but with the amount of animals there are, it is a very long running project.

 Mange

 Mange is a skin disease caused by burrowing mites, the mites will target unhealthy, stressed animals, and is also passed from adults to their litters. The animals loose their fur and the skin is dry and sore, and in ’s blazing heat will be very uncomfortable. There is a huge problem with mange in , you seem to see a dog on every corner with severe mange.  Luckily it is treatable, and a lot of the animals we treat and fed well as puppies and young dogs never get mange.

 Stab wounds 

  Although we meet a lot of very kind people in , and even if the people are unaware of how to care for their animals properly, they generally mean no harm to the animals.  This unfortunately isn’t always the case.  We often find dogs with stab wounds, the wounds will then become infected.  We treat the wounds, and try to make sure the dogs will be safe from further attacks.  On our summer 2005 trip we found a cow Betty with stab wound, apparently inflicted when she would not move.  Betty is now in our care.

 Cows in Sri Lanka 

 

 

 

   Home and Abroad Animal Welfare is run by vegetarians and vegans, and we promote vegetarianism to people in England, and tourists in Sri Lanka. We believe for the sake of the animals, the planet and for the people that vegetarianism is the way forward. Becoming and sustaining a vegetarian diet is easy, with a huge choice of delicious food and recipes. (See links page for more information).

 

 

 

    

  While meat eating continues, we feel that it is necessary to look at the welfare of the animals caught up in this horrendous business. The slaughter houses in Sri Lanka are shocking and are working on a reform project. We have had many ramps built at slaughter houses all over Sri Lanka, and plan to travel as far as we are safely able to and continue building ramps (some areas in Sri Lanka are unsafe for people foreign to Sri Lanka because of the civil war). The ramps (see picture) are for unloading cows from lorries. Before our ramps were built, cows would have to jump a great height from the lorries, and many would break their legs. They would have to wait, sometimes as long as a week, in agony with their broken limbs. We check up on ramps that have been built and make sure they are being used correctly.

 

 

 

  

  Our next steps are to build shelter and water troughs at all slaughter houses in Sri Lanka (again that we are able to safely travel to). Cows are left in the blazing hot sun for what can be days.  They are to our knowledge never given water, when we offer them water they will sometimes drink a few bucketfuls. On our summer 2005 trip our first water trough was built (pictured). It has been connected to the local water system and will continually fill with fresh water. Until we complete this part of the project, cows will be given water in buckets, and buckets are provided to all slaughter houses that we visit. We have also built some shelter for the cows in 3 slaughter houses so far, and again this will be continued.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have in our care 18 (number at summer 2005) cows, which have been bought from the Sri Lankan slaughter houses, and will now live their lives in peace with local Buddhist families on small pieces of land, and will never suffer at the hands of the slaughter men, or end up as piece of meat on a plate. Most of the slaughter houses supply meat to local hotels for tourists, which is why it is so important for us to ask tourists not to eat meat whilst on their trip to Sri Lanka.