This month, our team at In Defense of Animals India entered its Silver Jubilee year, and we have so much to celebrate! We’ve spent the past 25 years in service to vulnerable animals, and have grown tremendously along the way. We never could’ve imagined what we would accomplish when we first started in the suburbs of Mumbai, where we were operating out of just two garages. 

Things changed tremendously for the animals of Mumbai in 2000, when the Bombay High Court turned over a former dog pound for us to use — this would become our Deonar Center. 

Here, a facility that was intended to kill dogs would become a place where we now cherish and save animals’ lives! 

With this change, we were able to begin expanding our spay/neuter services, in addition to offering treatment for injured and ill animals. Many animals are homeless, while others have caretakers who want to ensure that they get the help they need. Countless individual animals who we see are suffering from injuries and illnesses and wouldn’t survive without our intervention. 

To this day, we continue to provide care for thousands of animals who come through the doors of this center, which has also become a home for special needs animals who cannot safely be returned to the streets. Here, our smallest charges have the most loving caretakers to look after them. And since 2017, our blind dogs have their own special ward and garden to enjoy, built by kind In Defense of Animals donors.

Since first starting out, we’ve also opened three additional centers — Turbhe, Panvel and Lonavala — which have allowed us to provide even more lifesaving care to animals. At any given time, we have more than 100 staff members looking after approximately 700 dogs and nearly 150 cats.

We’ve also added 12 mobile veterinary clinics to provide on-the-spot services for animals who need less serious treatments, along with transport to the appropriate center, and have started a program that gives veterinary students the opportunity to both learn and aid animals.

We’re dedicated to continuing our work to rescue and help as many animals as we can, and seek to inspire compassion toward them in our communities. We will also continue to stand against animal cruelty whenever we have the chance, and seek changes in our laws to ensure animals are protected.   

We’re forever grateful to our dedicated staff for the love and care they provide, our volunteers, members of our communities who don’t turn a blind eye to animal suffering, and to our compassionate supporters whose generosity has helped us rise to the challenges we’ve faced along the way.  

We couldn’t do what we do every day without an amazing and dedicated team, our volunteers, or the support of caring people like you who believe in our mission and make our lifesaving work for animals possible. You can help support our lifesaving work, and keep us hopeful about what we may yet do in the future by making a donation.