ABC In Buddhist India, October 2011
Animals: Tradition - Philosophy

FROM

Eileen Weintraub, Help Animals India
October 2011

ABC = Animal Birth Control

It was 30 years ago in the USA when usually the wives of the immigrant Tibetan families would ask me to sneak the pets that they had for spay/neuter (as the husbands were not in favor of it). Apparently in the Buddhist scriptures it is stated that it is a cruelty to animals to be neutered.

Well that can still be debated but thousands of years ago they did not have anesthesia or the humane capture techniques that we have today.

Our small contribution follows on the heels of Vets Beyond Borders, Bardot Fondation, Humane Society International and Worldwide Vet Services in bringing ABC to areas of Buddhist India and Buddhist countries.

Partially funded by Help Animals India, Tibetan Volunteers for Animals with the help of the vets and supporting expertise of Sarvoday Sevabhavi Sanstha (Mysore) did ABC (animal birth control) spay/neuter/ for 874 dogs and 12 cats, also rabies vaccinations and humane awareness camps in the Tibetan Settlements of Mundgod and Drepung (South Karnataka) this summer of 2011.

A poster placed in the center of the town read "Don't breed or buy while homeless die...Spay, neuter and adopt a stray one by one until there are none." That kind of information had never been presented in this area before.

There are still areas of India where ABC is not trusted at the Buddhist monasteries but this is changing rapidly.

Tibetan Volunteers for Animals is fundraising to set up mobile clinics and camps in Tibetan areas in South India.

Help Animals India funded a large portion of summer 2011 ABC (animal birth control) program where Tibetan Volunteers for Animals came into a Tibetan settlement which had no vet care and no ABC. They spay/neuter/vaccinated a total of 874 dogs and 12 cats and helped a lot more with life saving treatment.

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