The true owners of Kathmandu's streets are not the motorcyclists or suvs. It's our dogs. There are approximately 30,000 strays in Kathmandu, and this number is rapidly increasing. Street dogs are usually abandoned mongrels, often ill and abused. They are afflicted with rabies, open wounds festering with maggots, skin problems, and infectious diseases. These dogs roam the streets, foraging for food among garbage heaps, and often congregating near butcher shops, only to be kicked or cut by the owners.

The Kathmandu Animal Treatment (KAT) Centre, a non-profit organisation, sterilises street dogs in an effort to reduce their numbers. It also treats the dogs for illnesses before releasing them back. Sometimes, though, the dogs have more serious problems such as severe mange, and the centre keeps them on for more than the standard couple of weeks. If they stay for long enough, these dogs often get habituated to living with people and can no longer be released back onto the streets. That's when KAT puts them up for adoption.

Khageshwaar Sharma, the manager of the centre, tells us a recent story about Charlie, who was being treated for severe mange. Charlie was adopted by a taxi-driver from Budanilkantha who took a great fancy to him, and the former stray is today a healthy, happy little dog.

If you're looking for a dog, adoption from the centre is a great alternative to the usual high-maintenance, snooty, pure-bred options. Our featured dogs may not be purebreeds, but they can stand up to a lot. And they're a lot cuter too.

All the dogs listed here live at the KAT centre in Budanilkantha. You're rewarded for being an adoptive dog-owner-KAT will provide free medical care for a year. Prospective owners should note that all dogs are sterilised, have been immunised against rabies, and are female.

ALL PICS: SWORUP RANJIT

Name: Beauty
Age: Five to six years
This fluffy little mongrel was rescued from in front of the Veterinary Hospital at Teku. Due to a long-running skin problem, Beauty had to stay on at the centre for a long time-almost ten months. She is now all well and her skin is almost back to normal, but she has a bit of a throat problem that makes her bark sound more like a whine. Beauty is old and not very energetic, but she loves life and gets along very well with everyone. Frolicking with younger dogs is one of her favourite pastimes, and she is great friends with the centre's only resident kitten.

Name: Sita
Age: Three to four years
Sita is quiet, content to laze about in the sun and nap during the day. However, she becomes increasingly vigilant as the evening turns to night and acts as a perfect guard dog. Although originally brought in for sterilisation, Sita she was kept at the centre for treatment of a gangrenous tail. It was a difficult process-she needed two operations and took three months to heal. Sita, who has been at the centre for three years, is very friendly, but she does notice the arrival of strangers and lets out a warning bark. Sita is a beautiful mixed Lab.

Name: Seti
Age: One to one-and-a-half years
Seti is a cross between a Japanese Spitz and a mongrel, and one of the most adorable dogs at the centre. KAT staff say that Seti seems to have been abandoned by her owners. When she first came in five months ago, she was suffering terribly from mange and eczema, and barely had any fur. Today, she's fully recovered and looks startlingly like a snowball. Just as energetic as Nova, Seti loves other dogs and likes nothing more than to play with them. Seti is often seen teasing the older dogs and nipping at their ankles in an effort to make them chase after her.

KAT CENTRE

Name: Nova
Age: Five months
Nova, a little dynamo, has been at the centre for a month-and-a-half. Currently the only puppy at the centre, Nova is an energetic little dog, always up for a tussle with a newcomer, whether human or canine. Despite her energy, she willingly obeys simple commands, is well-behaved, and friendly. Her former master, an Australian, wanted her to go to a foreign family, but the centre will give her to anyone who can take good, proper care of her. Nova has yet to be spayed, and will only be up for adoption in a week or so, after she has been sterilised.

Name: Blackie
Age: Two to two-and-a-half years
Blackie is an enigma. With a scar down her side that will never grow fur, Blackie looks like a battle-weary streetfighter. BC Jha, a veterinarian at KAT, speculates that the scar could be the result of Blackie having been attacked with boiling water. When she was rescued from Thamel, Blackie had no fur at all, and it took almost a year-and-a-half for her to recover completely at the centre. Blackie is an active dog, and very alert and watchful, though sometimes temperamental.