Braj Animal Care: An Overview

The following article was recently published in Vrindavan Today magazine.

The rapid urbanisation of Vrindavan has been destructive in many ways, and the suffering of Braj’s animals is one of its most devastating effects. To address the complex and widespread problems these animals face, Braj Animal Care has bravely stepped forward to provide them with much-needed food and medical care.

Braj Animal Care was founded by Shri Chandan Goswami Maharaj of the Shri Radharaman Temple. Growing up in Vrindavan, Chandan Maharaj often witnessed cows eating garbage and dogs drinking black water directly from the sewers. As Shri Krishn’s beloved gaucharan bhumi was systematically replaced with concrete, the animals’ health condition continued to decline, and incidents of animals being hit by cars increased sharply with the worsening traffic. Their unbearable pain became the driving force that inspired Chandan Maharaj to start Braj Animal Care.

Chandan Maharaj and his team began feeding and providing medical care to animals on a small scale in late 2018, but during the first COVID-19 lockdown, the plight of the animals became all the more dire. Suddenly, the very meagre veterinary services in Braj became nonexistent. Even the veterinary college in Mathura closed and repurposed their lab as a COVID testing centre. Further, with restaurants closed and families rationing food, the garbage itself became devoid of scraps for the animals to eat.

It was at this time that Braj Animal Care took on the responsibility of feeding and caring for every stray animal in Braj. While everyone else was locked down, Braj Animal Care’s team was out in the streets facing harsh challenges from the police and administration as they executed this essential service. This experience emboldened them to help Braj’s animals on a large scale. After registering as an NGO in 2020, Braj Animal Care was able to serve many more animals, eventually hiring a full-time licensed veterinarian and a sizeable support staff.

Over the last two years, Braj Animal Care has provided medical treatment to approximately 12,000 dogs, cows, bulls and other animals throughout Braj. And through their daily feedings, they have distributed around 300,000 animal meals.

This month, Braj Animal Care has been forced to temporarily suspend its medical services until they attain a more sustainable model through fundraising. They are also focussing their efforts on the development and opening of their much-needed animal hospital and shelter. Simultaneously, they continue to serve 17,000 animal meals per month through their twice-daily feedings.

Drive Responsibly . . .

When you spend all day, every day taking care of street animals, it’s inevitable that you will face some emotionally difficult situations. One such moment came yesterday when a puppy we’ve known for a long time was run over by a motorbike.

This puppy and his siblings had all the support they needed to thrive – we fed them every day and vaccinated against the most common diseases. And an elderly monk had even offered them a warm and safe corner at the shrine where he takes care of the worship.

Unfortunately, the rash driving of irresponsible people was enough to wipe away all their good luck. One by one, cars and trucks sent the puppies to their graves. Luckily, the sole surviving puppy’s broken leg is treatable. Our veterinarian and many caring team members are fully committed to ensuring his recovery.

Treatment at Radhakund . . .

For the last several days, we have been traveling to the village of Radhakund for a very special case. We've had to make the long trip by motorcycle, as our van recently went for a deep cleaning and the seats are still drying out. It's a cold but necessary journey, as our patient's condition is dire.

The sweet dog we have been treating has maggot wounds all over his body. The most obvious is a huge gaping wound on his face, but the nasty parasites have also burrowed deep into his urethra, making the task of extracting them extremely challenging.

Any time maggots penetrate a head wound, the situation should be considered serious. This is because the maggots may enter the eyes, causing blindness, or the brain, which almost always causes death. We will continue treating this dear soul through all the difficulties, in hopes that he can make a full recovery.

Deworming Drive in the Winters . . .

In December, Braj Animal Care held vaccination and deworming drives in various parts of Braj Mandal. Most street animals suffer from parasites like maggots and intestinal worms. Without veterinary intervention, the animals have no choice but to suffer through it. In severe cases, animals do not survive such infestations. We are very happy to say that we provided deworming treatments to over 500 animals in the urban and rural areas of Braj during December alone.

A puppy receives treatment from our team

The process of seeking out animals for deworming helped us find many sick and injured animals we may not have known about otherwise. For example, whilst feeding deworming pills to street bulls in Vrindavan’s Chaitanya Vihar Phase 2, a local Brajwasi brought us to another alleyway where some severely ill puppies were hiding. Several of them were emaciated and flea-ridden, and two of them had dangerous maggot infestations in their heads. We were able to provide preliminary treatment for all of them and we are continuing to follow up on their cases.

Have Compassion, Not Hatred

In the animal welfare field, you see horrible things regularly. Eventually, you start to wonder if your emotions have been permanently ground to a pulp, but last night I saw something that really hurt my heart.

Out of the five parvo puppies that we treated in Radharaman Ghera, only one is left. I saw him yesterday as I was leaving the temple and stopped to pet and play with him. He was chipper and active. Just as I was feeling this one might just make it, I caught a whiff of the strong, distinctive smell of parvo – the smell that hints his intestines might be melting inside - the smell of uncompromising death. But that's not what broke me.

It was after I left that I saw another tiny puppy near our favourite chai stall on the banks of Yamuna Maharani. He seemed to be lost - no mother around. Some big male dogs were trailing him as though they would soon make him a snack. I honked my motorbike's horn to keep them at bay.

I couldn't pick up the puppy as I was covered with parvo germs that would certainly infect him. As it was ekadashi, there were many people giving parikrama (the sacred walk around Vrindavan). The tiny puppy kept trying to follow different parikrama-goers as if one of them would pick him up and take him home. But instead, one man gave him a strong kick in the gut and the puppy went flying.

That kick is what really hurt. "What was that?!" I shouted to the man. But he barely looked back before continuing on his way.

I can understand this puppy doesn't have much chance without his mother, but why the hatred? Wouldn't it make more sense to do anything possible to make his difficult life better? I just can't understand.

Early Intervention is Key . .

As we mentioned in our last post, India is currently experiencing its monsoon (rainy season) and the Braj Animal Care team is seeing an increase in internal and external parasite cases.

Recently, we treated a cow in Mathura whose horn was infested with maggots. Maggots cause gruesome wounds and if left untreated can cause extreme deep tissue damage. In this particular case, when the doctor grabbed the cow’s horn to try and restrain her, the horn came off completely and we discovered that it was entirely rotten and worm-infested inside.

We were able to remove the remaining maggots from the cow’s head, which allowed the wound to heal nicely. Thankfully, our patient will be absolutely fine and most maggot cases can be treated with great success as long as we intervene early. 

Hope

Hope fell from a rooftop two months ago, but her problems were just beginning. Unfortunately, the fall left her paralysed. She was still able to get around by using her two front legs, but as she walked, her back legs dragged along the ground.

Eventually, this led to Hope’s legs becoming wounded down to the bone, leaving her extremely prone to infection and maggot infestation. We gave her medicine, dressed her wounds, and have been following up as best we can. However, she really needs a shelter space to recover properly.

Please watch the video to learn more about Hope.

Monsoon Woes

The monsoon is so beautiful in Vrindavan. Areas that looked brown and uncared for have exploded with abundant greenery. The summer heat is also somewhat soothed by the rains. But you wouldn’t believe what the animals endure in this season.

Flooding is just a small part of it. The real problem is the parasites that thrive during this period. The humidity is sky-high, and this creates an idea environment for maggots and other bugs to thrive. Maggots are the larvae of flies, who lay their eggs in animals’ wounds. These maggots can hatch within a day and burrow deep into an animal’s flesh, sometimes even reaching the brain. They can turn the smallest scratch into a life-threatening wound.

It is very tough to see many, many animals affected by maggot infestations; but thankfully, we know how to help!