Tree Of Life For Animals

My Volunteer Experience

I volunteered with TOLFA from January to April 2008. I left my job and friends in the UK to gain experience of working with animals, and have a bit of an adventure, but I didn’t really know what to expect. I was looking forward to returning to India after my first visit last year, but I wasn’t prepared for just what a huge effect this experience would have on me.

From the moment I arrived at TOLFA I was proud to be a part of the shelter’s work. I met the founder’s mum, Wendy, and Canadian volunteer Erika with whom I would share many surreal dog-centred moments over the next few weeks. I also met the three permanent vets, who all must have been chosen specially for the way they can remain unflappable and good-humoured in some very stressful situations, and the compounders – possibly the friendliest and most genuinely nice group of blokes you could hope to meet.

Clara and few of the new friends she made at TOLFA

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Wonkey Donkey, as he is affectionately known, is a bit of a miracle. He was found by a couple Helen and Peter who had been volunteering at the hospital a few days previously. He was lying on his side in the road and had been for several days after being hit by a vehicle.

Wonkey Donkey now has his own page so you can read his full story. Wonkey Donkey’s Story

One of our previous volunteers, Pauhla Whittaker has nominated us as ‘Good Cause of the Month’ on a site called Nature’s Nexus.

This is a new online community and resource relating to everything including natural perfumery, herbs, essential oils and aromatherapy, sustainable and green living, natural beauty products, animals and complimentary therapies.

This accolade means that every ecard sent through their site within the month of May generates a donation for TOLFA.

You can read the full report at Nature’s Nexus Good Cause of the Month

Dog and Buffalo

This beautiful picture was taken by Serena, one of our UK Trustees who is visiting the shelter at the moment.

It shows our animals living in harmony with each other - and just a hint of curiosity!

Dogs suffering with mange is an extremely common sight in India (and indeed many other parts of the world). Mange is a skin condition caused by mites, which cause allergic reactions and creates incredibly itchy, flaky skin and results in hair loss. Treatment can be with a variety of products such as medicated shampoos and sulphur baths, but it can take weeks sometimes months to clear and have a full regrowth of fur.

It can be a very debilitating condition, not just irritating, but also painful as skin sores often develop and can become infected. Read a case study written by Erika, a Project Raja volunteer. It just goes to show that every bit of time and compassion given can go a long way to making a big difference in the lives of these animals.

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For a while now, we had wanted to overhaul our feeding regime for the dogs that were hospitalised at the shelter. It just seemed that what we were feeding them on, on a twice daily basis, just wasn’t hitting the mark and we wanted to make more of an effort to get things spot on.

Because the diet had to be made from scratch from local resources, it was important that all the nutrients were given at the right proportion and balance. For this I turned to veterinary colleague Nick Thompson, a vet who is committed to providing a personal, comprehensive, professional holistic referral service to the public and veterinary colleagues.

Treating both small animals and equines, his skills cover a wide range of complementary therapies such as homeopathy, acupuncture, herbal and nutritional medicine. After attending many of his lectures in the past, and from reputation, I knew that he would be just the person to set us on the right track as regards getting exactly the correct nutrients into the dogs.

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Read about the experiences of our latest Project Raja Volunteer, Alba.

Such an experience! Starting my first day at TOLFA was a shock for me, as a vet I’ve never seen dogs with distemper, rabies, dogs extremely affected with mange or paralysed dogs living with a good quality of life, free and wondering about.

Without many diagnostic methods, just your eyes, hands and a stethoscope, one adapts easily to “the Indian way of work.” It is interesting to be able to treat not only dogs and cows but also peacocks, buffaloes and camels!

Alba feeding an orphan calf

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The delightful Catkins Tea Rooms is set in the tranquil village of Herstmonceux in East Sussex and was the setting for an adorable afternoon tea party.

The event was organised by Lynn Maguire who runs the tea rooms. Being an animal lover she regularly raises money for local animal charities, and after seeing our website purely by chance, she decided to arrange for an altogether English themed event.

As we entered the tea room we noticed the walls were adorned with gorgeous cat pictures and portraits, all created by local artists. We were then seated at our table. Each table was beautifully set with a pretty floral tea service, and then we were presented with a host of nibbles that included triangle sandwiches, a scrummy fruit scone with lashings of jam and clotted cream, home-made cakes to follow and all topped off with hot refreshments.

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Our Puppy House has now been built, inaugurated and is fully operational. It has been difficult at the shelter having to cope with lots of puppies and very limited places to put them as Wendy, one of TOLFA’s hospital managers explains.

Staff, trustees and shelter dogs posing at the Puppy House opening ceremony, March 2008

‘Last year, as usual, as soon as I arrived at the hospital puppies started to come in thick and fast, Rachel thinks they wait for me! A few pups are fine as we have three cages to keep them in if they are small, not ideal but manageable. Most of the time I was there the numbers fluctuated between twenty and thirty and often I was at my wits end trying to find somewhere to house them.

The weather this winter was particularly cold and lasted longer than usual so my one of my problems was keeping very young and/or very sick pups warm enough. The dog kennels are designed for larger animals, with concrete floors and high ceilings it was very difficult to make them cosy enough for puppies, plenty of sacks and blankets and ensuring they were not on their own was okay for older, reasonably well puppies but that left a lot of pups needing a warmer place to live.

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Clara recently appealed for some much needed collars and leads so she could walk the puppies and dogs around more. Thanks to the generosity of her friends and family and a few UK supporters, we now have some spanking new collars and leads.

Here is Jack, Clara’s regular walking companion, proudly showing off his new attire.

Clara and pal Jack with a new collar and lead set, donated and brought over by Clara’s mum and sister in March 2008

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