For now, the best chance for India’s stray animals is to give them the care they need to fend for themselves on the street. SAFI uses the RRSR approach—Rescue, Rehab, Sterilize and Release—to give Indian dogs the best chance to fend for themselves in the current climate. This allows us to give many more animals what they need without overwhelming the nation’s current shelter infrastructure, while our public education and abuse prevention arm works to build a society better suited to the needs of these animals. Those animals whose age or medical issues render them unable to survive on the streets receive a forever home in a local sanctuary.
An native breed, the “An dog,” is misunderstood as wild or dangerous despite its intelligence and lovable personality. This discrimination carries over to the adoption market. After just 65 days of age, or with any history of injury, chances of adoption plummet to zero. With that in mind, SAFI’s focus is not on the conventional rehab-and-adopt model familiar to Westerners, but on giving the best chance of survival on their own.
