Help Street Dogs in Dharamsala and Save Lives

Dear DAR Friends, 

We had a very unusual month with a new kind of "rescue." 

We were alerted by a volunteer at another animal rescue that two of the dogs, where he was volunteering, were going to be put back on the street while still in terrible condition. 

We were like, "huh?"

He sent us photos of the two dogs, they were both unbelievable skinny, one was so week she could not use her hind legs. 

The volunteer asked if we would take the dogs, our answer was "Hell Yes." 

We came to find out that the other rescue promoted veganism (that's fine) but also only fed their rescue dogs a vegan diet consisting of small portions of lentis, rice, and milk. One dog, Boris, had been there for 4 months and was skinnier than when he arrived. 

The volunteer got the approval from the other organizations owner to bring the dogs to us instead of putting them back on the street. We could not believe what we saw when they got here. Yes, we see animals like this when we rescue them from the street, but not from another rescue! 

We immediately did health checks and blood tests, and realized the only issues were that they were emaciated and dehydrated. As to not shock their systems, we fed each of them 6 small meals a day, high protein combined with rice. 

In just over a month, the two of them have gained a much needed 11 pounds each and still have a long way to go.  

Sunshine, who could not use her hind legs when she got here, is now running and jumping. Boris is enjoying daily hikes with our bigger dogs and both are on their way to good health. 

Because this situation brought up ethical and moral conflicts for some vegans (we feed our dogs chicken, eggs, curd, as well soya chunks and rice), I decided to do some research. 

I first reach reached out to a vegan friend who runs a shelter in southern India. She clearly stated, that it is not okay to give a dog with a compromised immue system a vegan diet. 

I then reached out to the big guns at Peta India. While they said feeding a dog with a compromised immune system is okay (obviously this is their mission) but they did clearly state they it had to be done responsibly. Here is what they suggested: 

1. At least 1/2 half of the meal needs to be good protein.
2. Supplements of Taurine, L-Carnitine & B12 should be added to the meal (this is for healthy dogs as well).

Taurine and L-Carnitine are amino acids found in meat. They are not founds in plants. Deficiencies can be potentially serious, so a supplement is an important preventative measure.

For B12 you can add Nutritional Yeast to the diet, if not, then a supplement is needed.

Finally, a dog's protein requirements are greater than us humans. Don't impose something on them that seems right to you but is detrimental to their health.

As the majority of the dogs we rescue are in need of a proper diet, we will continue feeding as we do, with extra feeding for cases like Boris and Sunshine. 

With that said, if you can donate to help keep the food coming, Global Giving is running its Little by Little Campaign during the week of April 3rd to April 7th During the week: 

• GlobalGiving will be matching donations up to $50 at 50% while the $50,000 in matching funds remain.
• At the end of the week, there will be $3,000 in bonus prizes for the top five fundraising projects.
• There will also be a 200% match for new recurring donations started during this week!

So please, DONATE TODAY or this week,  and help us on our mission in making Dharamsala a safe and happy place for animals. 

Want to adopt a DAR dog? We send dogs to USA and Canada. Interested? Please email us at darescue@gmail.com

See the YouTube link below to learn about Mutki, a cute pup who is looking for her forever home. 

Links:

• Adopt Mutki