HELPING INDIA & IT’S PEOPLE
Investing Your Heart
A LAND OF BEAUTY—AND PAIN
India’s rampant income inequality and developing infrastructure create dangers for all its residents, and animals feel this stress even more acutely. A culture of misunderstanding and damaging stereotypes often leaves stray animals vulnerable to abuse, neglect, or severe injuries from vehicle accidents. India has no government-funded animal cruelty response, meaning that thousands of killings and abuse cases go unaccounted for each year. This is combined with the country’s severe weather: in our shelter’s home city of Hyderabad, summer temperatures can reach up to 115F, leaving dogs at risk of potentially fatal heat stress and dehydration.
AT THE MERCY OF COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic, and its economic and supply chain effects, have ravaged the nation since 2020. In addition to the human and financial toll, the challenges facing India’s restaurant industry have led to massive reductions in food scraps, a major food source for stray animals. This, in turn, has led to fraught interactions with the local populace, as dogs expecting to rely on food waste make increasingly more desperate contact with a frustrated populace.
THERE IS HOPE
Our founder Ujwala Chintala had been active in the American pet rescue community; on a visit to Hyderabad, she saw the heartbreaking condition India’s animals had been left to and decided to take action. SAFI was founded in 2019 to strike at the root of the animal abuse problem in India—the need to change Indian society itself. SAFI both maintain a shelter and rehab facility in Hyderabad and an arm of animal abuse and prevention. Our public education programs reach out to Indian youth to change perceptions of stray animals, while our cruelty officer counsels abusers and liaises with law enforcement to bring an end to abuse cases.
OPPORTUNITY IN INDIA
While India’s situation may be dire, your financial support creates huge opportunities to help animals in India. The rupee’s high exchange rate, coupled with our RRNR model, means that animals can get the food they need for just $5, with $20 covering a week’s worth of needs. Any amount you give goes a long way toward a safer and more loving India for animals.
