Birds Saved from Indian Kit Festival Injuries
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FROM Help Animals India
February 2021

"The joys of celebrating with kites are experienced by those who fly it, while the sorrows are experienced by those who can no longer fly. Our rescue team has been working diligently to restore the flight of numerous innocent birds."

Translation of poster: "A request, will you please quit your short lived celebrations, I also want to fly!"

The International Kite Festival in Gujarat is called Uttarayan. However, the sharp string (manja) used is actually illegal, but is still used and many birds are injured and need rescuing during this time! Manja is made out of crushed glass pieces, metal or other sharp substances to cut the opponent's kite string.

Our grantee Prayas-India team writes about this year's festival:

The campaign of more than 10 years now has resulted into a massive victory for birds as the casualties continue to report a 25% reduction on year to year since last 4 years now. Surat saw only 30% of the casualties of birds compared to 2015, and that is a big relief, but still we received over 150 birds this Uttarayan, and over 90% of them were rescued and treated. Volunteers had to be trained to follow PPE protocols and we had to take extra care for birds that may carry viral infections.

The delight was that the new generation of volunteers are taking the charge and that a promising sign for the birds of Surat and India that the times have changed and there is new hope for the compassionate and true to cause generation coming up, who chooses compassion and has fun while saving not killing.

Special thanks goes to Help Animals India that has provided unconditional and a prominent support in spreading the word.

We are proud to have two major supporters for this campaign which is called "Cutting Edge", as we tackle the problem of killer cutting manja with making our actiona more sharper and efficient every year. The Forest Department which has enabled us to have the city wide coordination easy, and Help Animals India who has helped us not only built our shelter but also provided a moral support.

We are joyous to find help and support from others friends overseas, that are represented by Help Animals India. A big thank you from all the birds rescued, to the team of Help Animals India.

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