Live to Rescue: The Drive for Better Treatment of Animals

Live to Rescue is a project working within Ladakh and surrounding areas to promote better treatment of animals and improve living conditions for strays living in the area.

The organisation, which operates under the guidance of His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, works to foster positive relationships between people and animals within communities and help to ensure homeless dogs are treated humanely.

Michael Kern, Craniosacral Therapy practitioner and teacher, is a long-time supporter of Live to Rescue and its partner organisations, which all fall under the umbrella of Live to Love.

Prioritising Animal Care

In Ladakh and other remote Himalayan mountain regions, seeing animals in distress is not uncommon. In the winter, the suffering of these animals is exacerbated by lack of access to food, shelter and other resources.

Live to Rescue has been collaborating with the Leh chapter of The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Leh Municipal Committee, and the Leh Animal Husbandry Department to try and change this. Working together, these agencies are developing strategies to provide care for animals already living on the streets and promote a more tolerant and caring approach within local communities towards stray animals.

Population Management

In an ideal world, all domestic animals would live in homes where they are looked after and cared for. Managing the stray population is therefore a huge part of the long-term solution. Live to Rescue operates a sterilisation programme for strays to help manage the population and prevent more dogs from being born on the streets. This combined with working to care for or re-home the existing stray population is a humane alternative to culling strays, managing the population without euthanising existing dogs.

Mass sterilisation projects such as the ones operated by Live to Rescue and partners require funding. If enough funds can be raised in the short-term, it is hoped that enough dogs can be sterilised to prevent the population from veering out of control.

Teaching Others

Another large part of the role played by the Live to Rescue team is the education of communities in caring for strays and developing close relationships with the canine population. Each individual has a moral duty to care for animals and ensure they are treated without cruelty. With care and compassion, Live to Rescue hopes to drive collective action that will result in better treatment of all animals.