By Clara Nowak | UK Director
Dear Friends,
It feels now like a vastly different world to when we sent our last Project Report. We hope that you, and your family, are all safe and well.
India has been under nationwide lockdown since 22nd March, and with only 4 hours’ notice given, it has been a challenge for TOLFA. Fortunately, our team are used to working together under challenging circumstances, and with last year’s flooding still fresh in the memory, we acted quickly. The first thing to do was to secure supplies of animal feed and medicines, so there were many phone calls to our suppliers and local supporters to stockpile as much as we could.
Next, we had to prepare our staff with extra safety precautions and cleaning protocols being brought in. All staff were provided with the relevant PPE and extras such as named water bottles, and we introduced new rules about how our teams work and congregate. We had already brought in a 'no visitors' rule, but lockdown means that there are no tourists in the area which has a substantial impact on our income from local donations.
As veterinary services are classed as Essential Work, TOLFA is still open and able to send our ambulances out to emergency call outs, and we still have over 400 animals at the hospital to care for every day. As the lockdown has closed local businesses, including restaurants and, in Ajmer, meat shops, we have seen an increase in dogs with bite wounds from fighting over the limited resources. The young, old, and vulnerable are most at risk.
To counter this problem, we have a team who go out specifically to feed street animals and ensure that they are staying well as they survive without the usual melee of people on the streets.
We are of course concerned about the longer term impact the coronavirus crisis will have on our organisation, so we have created a special appeal for help on GlobalGiving. We are grateful to have your support, which enables us to continue our work for the street animals of India.
Thank you
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