TREE OF LIFE FOR ANIMALS (TOLFA)

Enriching the Lives of Street Animals in Rajasthan

- Jo Carnegie*

Animals who are suffering know they can find 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 1,70,000 sick & injured animals, spayed/neutered more than 22,000 dogs, vaccinated more than 28,000 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 oncall 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 know that they are safe and aren’t carrying rabies.