It might seem impossible to change the mindset of the people in a country like Nepal where cruelty to animals is sanctioned by tradition. But yes, animalNEPAL.org is a group of activists who want to change this. Their motto is to 'help all beings in the kingdom' by changing the Nepali mindset towards animals and reducing cruelty towards them.

The organisation has three noteworthy crusades under its belt: Worship Without Cruelty Campaign, Monkey Business Campaign and the Anti-Kick-Kukur Campaign. The first was aimed at medieval customs such as the annual festival in Khokana where a live goat is tossed into a pond and the local youth tear it apart with their teeth, while Monkey Business tries to stop the smuggling of the sacred rhesus of the Valley to science labs in America. The Anti-Kick-Kukur Campaign is as the title suggests to stop the bad Nepali habit of kicking the same dogs we worship in Kukur Tihar.

animalNEPAL.org is also the first organisation to develop a line of pet care products made by Nepali humanitarian groups and NGOs. Their products range from pet food, collars to matching apparels for pets and owners. This is the idea recently won them the second place for Best Business Plan from a Development

Organisation award out of 700 plans submitted from all over the world. During the prize giving ceremony held in Holland on 3 June, the Dutch Minister of Development Cooperation Van Ardene-van der Hoeven remarked, This is a plan that may sound rather unusual at first sight. However the idea to engage unemployed women and handicraft workers in the production of pet products for pet owning middle class in Nepal is a All beings in the kingdom very innovative and promising business in development case and plays an exemplary role in entrepreneurial creativity.

One of animalNEPAL.org's chief objectives is to work towards establishing a Bureau for the Prevention of Animal Sacrifice. As they say, you can usually tell how well a country treats its people by looking at how well it treats its animals.

www.animalnepal.org

Alok Tumbahangphey