Helping the Free Roaming Dogs of Delhi: Dr. Devi and Animal India Trust
Dr. Sarungbam Yaiphabi Devi with one of the Animal India Trust mobile vet clinic vehicles.
“The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do.” –Amelia Earhart
In March of 2002 Dr. Sarungbam Yaiphabi Devi decided to follow her dreams. As a veterinarian she had always been driven to help animals, but she had made up her mind to quit her job in order to begin a new venture, one that would allow her to specifically focus on helping the large populations of free foaming dogs in India. “I had this vision of a controlled canine population, healthy and well fed stray dogs in the nooks and corners of Delhi, and I set out to make this vision a reality by founding Animal India Trust (AIT), an organization that works to improve the lives of street dogs in New Delhi.”
Leaving the security of her job to start AIT was a big gamble both personally and professionally for Dr. Devi—this was a venture that would take a tremendous amount of work and the odds were certainly against her, but she was focused and driven and had many good ideas about how to best address the situation. “I put all of my savings in to the project and was greatly relieved that after a year of hard and toiling work, I received some government grants to help with this initiative.”
Dr. Devi certainly had her work cut out for her, as there is a very large free roaming dog population in this area—she estimates that there are approximately 300,000 free roaming dogs on the streets of Delhi. She sees the urgency of this work, noting that “without a comprehensive spay/neuter program in place to slow and eventually stop the indiscriminate breeding of Delhi’s free roaming dogs, their numbers will continue to increase.” In addition, she worries that “increases in population places increased pressure upon the dogs in their day-to-day struggle to survive, as well as increased incidences of various communicable diseases among the human and dog population.” There is also a concern that there the growing population of free roaming dogs has also lead to a spike in rabies cases. As Dr. Devi explains, “New Delhi’s free roaming dog population and rabies are inseparable issues and, here in India, one goes with the other. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to ensure both parts of the equation are taken into consideration while doing our type of work.”
Dr. Devi manages to stay positive and hopeful even when faced with such a large population of animals in need. She approaches her work systematically, and believes that “the most effective demonstration Animal India Trust can make to the value of sterilization and vaccination is to concentrate their efforts on a particular area or zone, and massively sterilize and vaccinate within that area to achieve an over 70% success rate. If this rate of sterilization is accomplished within one breeding cycle, the results are immediate, demonstrating a visual and measurable impact.”
AIT provides a wide range of services including: spay/neuter programs, rabies vaccinations, administering medical care to sick and injured animals found on the streets, and a foster/adoption network that helps place orphaned puppies in loving homes. AIT also works with economically disadvantaged populations to provide free free veterinary care for their companion animals.
AIT started small and first began operating out of a small basement office. Today AIT has two offices in Delhi and is looking to start a third location early in 2017, a testament to just how successful this venture has been. Dr. Devi remains the managing trustee and veterinary surgeon, but now has a staff and many volunteers to help her with this work.
AIT’s work is making a noticeable difference, and has changed the lives of hundreds of animals. “When I look at the strays of Delhi now”, says Dr. Devi, “I feel proud that they look well, healthy and that there are no skinny hungry looking pups hanging onto the totally emaciated looking mothers.” AIT collaborates with local Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and dedicated community leaders to spear-head veterinary initiatives in a number of different neighbourhoods. Dr. Devi is quick to praise these joint initiatives, noting that “if all the RWAs in Delhi do the same, we will not have rabies and, at the same time, canine population will be checked and stabilized.”
There are many challenges that Dr. Devi and the AIT team face on a daily basis. In addition to the staggering number of animals in need, they also face complaints from members of the public who do not seem to appreciate the levels of complexity this work entails. Even on the toughest days, Dr. Devi remains committed to helping animals in need and draws strength and motivation by reflecting on the changes that AIT has been able to make so far. “There are many areas we have worked in where we now see fewer dogs, no puppies, no evidence of rabies. This makes us feel that if we really work hard and get more dogs spayed/neutered, one day we will be able to achieve our goals.” When Dr. Devi started AIT she thought that she might be able to get the health and population issues related to the large number of free roaming dogs in Delhi under control in 10 years. She now realizes that “we still have to carry on this work and intensify the program and reach out to neighbouring areas. This is the only way to control the populations humanely and to also reduce incidences of rabies.”
Dr. Devi is also a volunteer and board member with All Creatures Great and Small, a sanctuary for “animals in distress.” When she first started AIT she “felt terrible” that she didn’t have anywhere to take “the handicapped or very old dogs, or puppies without mothers.” All Creatures Great and Small offers sanctuary to these animals and Dr. Devi has strong words of praise for this organization – “I am very happy that all blind or amputated animals need not be euthanised but will be taken care well at this sanctuary.” All Creatures Great and Small has a good working relationship with AIT, and this allows yet another level of care to be provided for animals in need.
Donations made to both Animal India Trust and to All Creatures Great and Small help to provide care for animals in need in the Delhi region of India. Donations to AIT can be made via PayPal (animalindiatrust@yahoo.com) or by sending a cheque or money order payable to Animal India Trust. The mailing address is: Animal India Trust, Part 1 Jal Vihar, New Delhi, 110024, U.T., India Donations to All Creatures Great and Small can be sent to D 45 Gulmohar Park, New Delhi, 110049, India.
From Runway to Ranger: Raabia Hawa’s Journey to Protect the Wildlife of Kenya
“You have to make every day in your life count. Otherwise, what are you living for?” –Raabia Hawa
Raabia Hawa has a message for young people, particularly those in her home country of Kenya. She urges them to feel a sense of responsibility for wildlife, and points out that these animals are, “Our heritage, our culture. If we lose these animals, we are pretty much signing our own death warrant.” There is no doubt that Raabia herself feels this sense of responsibility deeply as she works day in and day out fighting to save the wildlife of Kenya. Her entire life revolves around conservation and anti-poaching initiatives. Raabia is an Honorary Warden with the Kenya Wildlife Service and also the Executive Director of Ulinzi Africa Foundation, an organisation she launched in 2014 as East Africa’s first non-profit that focuses on game ranger welfare, empowerment and facilitation with an aim to foster better community stewardship of wildlife and enhance anti-poaching efforts.
Raabia’s career has taken a sharp turn—she originally was a fashion model and media personality, involved with several radio and television programs. While she has always had an interest in nature, it wasn’t until 2008 when she was volunteering with Care for the Wild Kenya, a conservation organization, that she really found her calling. Less than an hour in to her first shift with Care for the Wild Kenya, a radio call came in about an elephant who had been killed for her ivory tusks and the team set off.
This became a defining moment for Raabia, one that set her on her current path. She will never forget the “living nightmare” she encountered that day. “There was a lot of blood everywhere,” she recalls, “the elephant’s trunk was on one side and her body was on the other. They had even cut off her ear.” This sight had a profound and lasting impact on Raabia:
To see my heritage laying there in a pool of blood with her face hacked off for something that was couple of inches long – that was heartbreaking for me. She was freshly poached and there were sounds coming out of her body, gases being released, and that was just horrific.
Raabia Hawa and Puppy the kitten
Until that moment, Raabia didn’t understand the devastation caused by poaching. She knew there were many anti-poaching organizations working in the area and had assumed that the problem had been mostly contained. “I just couldn’t comprehend why this was still a thing,” she recalls.
“I didn’t think that poaching was still happening in Kenya… but I was standing looking at the carcass of a freshly poached elephant, questioning all these things. How could I have been so blind, so ignorant about what was happening in my own backyard? Here I was signing letters and petitions about wildlife in Canada and the U.S., telling them to stop clubbing the seals and here in my own backyard there are elephants being lost and nobody even knew about it.”
Raabia realized that after this encounter she “couldn’t just come back home and pretend like that didn’t happen or just get back to my regular life. Something had to change and I believe that you need to be the change you want to see in the world.” From this moment on, she began to dedicate her life to making a difference for Kenya’s wildlife
I started seeking out ways to get more involved in anti-poaching specifically. I really felt that is where I needed to be and that is where I could make a difference. I set off on this crazy journey to all these places in my country, meeting rangers and helping them and volunteering with organizations on anti-poaching and de-snaring patrols.
On these journeys, Raabia realized just how challenging it was for the rangers who were fighting poaching. The rangers often were ill-equipped and had little protection against the poachers, and yet they were still out on the front lines trying their best to protect animals. She was so frustrated to realize that in spite of the many anti-poaching and conservation organizations that existed, poaching remained rampant in Kenya. These discoveries had a weighty impact on her and she was appointed by the Ministry as an honorary warden with Kenya Wildlife Services after making an application in order to do her part to help out on the front lines.
Because of what she witnessed while on patrol Raabia felt it was important to both offer support to the rangers as well as educate the public about the work that the rangers did. Through her Ulinzi Africa Foundation Raabia founded an initiative called Walk With Rangers. The first trek lasted 15 days and through social media, she won the support of 70 global participants from 16 different countries who walked over 200 miles to raise awareness about the challenges facing rangers on the ground. This movement also raised funds which Raabia used to purchase an anti-poaching vehicle that operates currently in Tsavo. The trek is now an annual event, inviting people to experience the life of a ranger over 10 days in the harshest of terrain.
In 2015, 32 people from different countries participated in the Walk With Rangers event. Sadly, on the last day of the walk, which just happened to be World Elephant Day, the group encountered the carcass of an elephant who had been killed by poachers. The poachers had been scared off before they had the chance to cut off both of the elephant’s tusks, so the rangers who found her had the heart wrenching task of cutting off the animal’s remaining tusk so that it would not end up in the hands of poachers who would profit from it. Because of these kinds of situations, Raabia sees the work of rangers and wardens as an important calling—“when you make the decision to be a ranger and a warden you are willing to put your life on the line for these animals.”
For Raabia, the ivory trade is “worse than taboo, it is completely unacceptable.” She has seen many horrific scenes where calves have been trying in vain to wake their dead mothers, elephants who have been killed for ivory. Of this kind of encounter she says, “it really rips your soul apart,” and admits that she sometimes finds it hard to stay positive.
“Sometimes I don’t have any hope. I really don’t. When you see all that death and all that poaching. I’ve seen possibly hundreds of carcasses by now – I can’t even count them on my fingertips because there are so many. When you see that much destruction and decimation you really don’t have much hope for the future. But what keeps me going is the fact that I know that these animals have nobody to look after them. There is just a few of us, just a handful of rangers looking after them and safeguarding their lives. And the way I see it, and what makes us keep going in to the field, is that if we stop we are failing these animals because they are depending on us for their security, they are depending on us to keep them safe, to keep them alive, to keep their families safe from poachers and I would never let them down. Even if I lose all the hope in this world that will forever keep me going.”
When we visited Raabia in Kenya earlier this year she took us to her “chill spot,” a remote area in the midst of an old mining area. It was a beautiful and peaceful location with mountains in the distance, dried brush, and many different species of birds flying overhead. Sometimes Raabia pitches a tent here and just enjoys the solitude. This is an essential way to help her process the trauma she deals with in her work.
She also is filled with joy when she thinks of Puppy, a kitten she recently rescued. Puppy was found in a dump and he was very sick, but Raabia nursed him back to health and the two have become fast friends. Puppy is blind but that doesn’t slow him down. He travels everywhere with Raabia (Puppy even joined us for the photo shoot we did earlier this year!), and it is very touching to watch the two of them together.
Raabia also remembers that in the face of so much adversity it is important to remember that individual lives matter and that the rangers and anti-poaching organizations are making progress.
“It is very heartbreaking when you come across all the poached elephants. It really rips your soul to shreds. But that one animal you save, that one elephant that you are able to protect, that one animal that you take out of a wild snare or give water to – just that one animal, there is such a huge and profound reward in just that one tiny little act of goodness that you have done. And I think that as humans we all need that, we need to feel good about ourselves and you can only feel good about yourself if you do good to other living creatures and other people.”
It is these kinds of realizations that help her to stay strong and keep doing all she can for the wildlife of Kenya. Raabia has many creative ideas to help spread the message of conservation and to get more people involved in these efforts. For example, she proposed an amnesty period to help people get rid of ivory and wildlife trophies that they may have in their possession. She has come to learn that many citizens in Kenya have ivory and trophies (e.g. animal skins) in their homes. Often these items have been in their families for generations and now the current owners of these items do not know what to do with them. There is a growing shift in attitude towards ivory and animal trophies, more and more people are recognizing that not only are these items illegal but they are also unethical. However, one of the problems that has arisen in the midst of this shift is that people are afraid of being arrested if they try to get rid of these materials. The amnesty that Raabia proposed was a very successful initiative and several people participated by bringing ivory and other wildlife products to a central site where they were then burned. Many people asked if they could directly place family heirlooms on to the pyres, a moving testament to the changes in attitudes towards these kinds of items. Raabia has written a very thoughtful reflection about this experience which has been widely shared on social media.
Raabia knows how important it is to have community support for conservation efforts, and recognizes how damaging it can be when wildlife conservation or anti-poaching initiatives are pitted against local communities. She knows how important it is to work with the community, and to foster a sense of cooperation and goodwill instead of having people feel afraid of the wildlife conservation authorities. She believes that the fear of arrest has the potential to undermine the work that she and others are doing and, in this context, describes this amnesty period as a “small initiative that will have a huge impact.” In addition to creating important bridges between the conservation community and average citizens of Kenya, it also provides more information about the number of wildlife animals that have been harvested by locals over the years.
Raabia acknowledges that many Kenyans see wildlife conservation as an elite colonialist endeavour, but she wants to challenge this notion and demonstrate that protecting animals is something that everyone should care about. She is especially active in encouraging young people to get involved—“The time is now for the younger generation to take a grip on conservation and to stop whining and complaining that it is a colonialist thing or that it is an elitist thing. If I could break the barriers and I could get in I don’t think anyone else should be stopped or discouraged from doing the same thing.”
Raabia stresses that while this line of work “breaks you” it also has many rewards, including the way that it, “gives you a perspective on life that is fresh and new, and you appreciate everything, you appreciate every drop of water and every grain of rice that you have on your plate. And you appreciate life and I don’t think there is anything greater than that, really.” In spite of all of the long days and heartbreaking realities she faces, Raabia cannot imagine doing anything else with her life. “I would never go back to the days when I was walking on the ramp as a model,” she says thoughtfully, “I have no interest in that anymore.” She acknowledges that many people her age do strive for fame and fortune, but she now knows that there is something even more powerful “about being noticed by the animals you help that nobody else knows.”
It is like your own little secret, and it is just between you, that animal, and God. And that is the most powerful feeling, it is the most uplifting, enriching feeling in the whole entire world and I wouldn’t trade that for a million TV interviews or a million dollars.
Raabia has found that the animals she works so hard to protect have changed the way she sees the world. “I am inspired by wildlife every day,” she says, “I see some of their struggles and their pain.” She feels that humans (who she describes as being “prone to self-pity”) have a lot to learn from animals.
“I went through a lot of things in my personal life as well that made me upset and sad. It reached a point where I would just look back at the situations I have experienced and refused to let my own life get me down because sometimes you see these animals and they are in so much pain and you just wonder how on earth they are coping with all that pain – just physical pain, forget having to deal with the emotional pain of watching your mom get her faced hacked off for tusks, you have to deal with all that physical pain of your own machete wounds and snare wounds. I’ve seen animals that have had their spinal cord cut and they are still feeding their calves. It is really painful just to watch. I always think to myself that if they can go through all of that and not complain and still carry on with life, who am I, how can I be so selfish to just think about myself? I’m just dealing with one tiny little thing and I’m just making it like it is the whole world revolves around my one little problem or my one little issue. And all of that seems so selfish to me. So, in times of sadness and grief I’m inspired to lift my spirits up by animals and by animals that I’ve seen in pain and distress. I think they have a fighting spirit that is unmatched.”
That “fighting spirit” has had a lasting impact on Raabia who is not afraid to speak up against injustice. “If somebody is doing something wrong you can’t just let them,” she implores, “if you have a voice use it to help these animals because they can’t help themselves.”
“Animals Are Precious:” Lumka Golintete’s Dedication to Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW)
Lumka Golintete with dogs rescued by CLAW
Lumka Golintete is often smiling even though she has witnessed so much suffering. Her energetic and compassionate nature has equipped her to deal with so many heartbreaking stories in her work as an emergency first responder with Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW), an organization based in Johannesburg, South Africa. CLAW provides veterinary, rescue, and rehoming services within the various townships, and also runs a program of education with the intent to create a “culture of accountability” when it comes to the way animals are treated.
Lumka Golintete with dogs rescued by CLAW
Lumka Golintete with dogs rescued by CLAW
Lumka Golintete with dogs rescued by CLAW
While CLAW’s primary focus is on dogs and cats, Golintete grew up learning to respect and care for many different kinds of animals. Her father taught her from a very young age that animals should be treated with respect. “We are supposed to treat dogs and cats like the way we treat each other as humans,” Golintete says when recalling some of the lessons her father taught her. He helped her to understand that it was important to speak kindly to animals and he modelled this behavior in the way he interacted with the many rescued animals who shared their home over the years.
Through her work with CLAW Golintete encounters terribly heartbreaking situations as well as situations where kindness and compassion shine through. “Sometimes I have those days where I cry too much because of the things I see,” she admits. But it is frequently a case of mixed emotions because in a matter of a few hours she can move from seeing “good things, people treating their dog so well,” to “terrible things, someone being bad to a dog.”
So much of Golintete’s work is about taking care of the immediate needs of both animals and humans. She is often called to homes where the occupants are living in extreme poverty and she sees first-hand how this impacts the lives of everyone in the home, including the nonhuman animals. For example, she frequently encounters situations where both a human caregiver and their dog are “in a terrible state” because there is not enough food to go around. Golintete feels strongly about helping people so that they are in a better position to take care of the animals they share their homes with. “When you see things like that you can’t just take the dog away from them,” she stresses, “that isn’t fair.” Rather, in these situations she recognizes the need for compassion and takes practical steps like distributing food parcels.
Golintete cites a lack of education as the root cause for so much of the cruelty she encounters through her work with CLAW. “It isn’t that people are necessarily cruel,” she points out, but, rather, that “some feel that dogs do not need medications or vaccinations.” In South Africa it is common to have dogs for security reasons, and Golintete has also encountered many people who “believe that if a dog is too full he will be lazy and too sleepy to bark at intruders.” She has seen many instances where dogs are deliberately kept underfed in the hopes that these animals would then, in turn, act as better guard dogs. But, as Golintete points out, this is a counterproductive attitude—“most people want dogs to be security, but you can’t expect dogs to do this if they are hungry.” Likewise, she encourages people who have dogs for security reasons to bring them in the house and to not leave them tied up outside where they could easily be poisoned. “How is a dog supposed to protect you from outside?” she asks, “You are in the house, so isn’t it better to have the dog in there with you? They can bark and scare people off and nobody gets inside.”
When Golintete encounters cases of animal abuse she tries to remember the educational potential of the situation. She always aims to stay calm and to “make friends” with people so that she has the opportunity to teach them about treating animals with compassion. “Losing your temper isn’t effective because you haven’t passed any information to them besides anger,” she notes. “You have to try by all means to stay calm, stick to what you are saying, and make sure that they have learned what you are saying to them.”
Golintete understands that there are often cultural and social barriers to overcome when asking people to rethink how they treat animals.
People need to see before changing, you need to know and acknowledge stuff before you make change. It is different when you grow up in an environment where people don’t do certain things, it is also different when you grow up in an area where you are exposed to those things. It tends to be hard to change or move from what you are used to.
To this end, Golintete feels that there is tremendous potential in educational programs for children. When asked about future plans, she talks enthusiastically about her hope that CLAW can one day offer a “safe after school space for kids, a space away from some of the problems they encounter in their daily lives.” In Golintete’s vision of this program, children would not only be encouraged to work on their studies through various prizes and academic competitions, but they would also get to spend time with the rescued animals that CLAW works with and, as a result, have the opportunity to see animals in a new light.
Golintete’s work with CLAW is such an important part of her life. She is often on call to help deal with emergency situations, but even when she is not scheduled to work people often show up at her house to seek her assistance. She works long hours and has little time for socializing or hobbies, but she doesn’t seem to mind. “I think I’m happy with everything and don’t feel like I’m sacrificing much,” she laughs, “I’d rather be here.”
It is Golintete’s drive to help animals and to help people understand why kindness to animals matters that keeps her going through long days and tough situations. She wants people to understand that “animals are precious” and that “animals just need someone who can understand them.” She believes that there are many ways in which humans and animals are similar and that “animals do try to show how they feel, they do show every emotion.” One of the main problems she sees is that many people do not know how to pay attention to what animals are trying to communicate. “We just need to look deep in to them, to understand their feelings and to listen to them.” It is Golintete’s goal to encourage as many people as possible to do just that.
“Find Something You Care About Deeply, And Do Everything You Can For It”: Avalon Theisen’s Mission to Change the World
Avalon Theisen is the founder of Conserve It Forward, an environmental education organization based in Florida. She was recently in Paris for the COP 21 conference on climate change, has visited the White House to speak about environmental issues, given a TEDx Talk, and has won several awards for her work, including the Florida Achievement Award from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women in 2014. Theisen is a vegan who is passionate about educating people about the connection between environmental issues and animal rights. She is a volunteer for Vegan Outreach and, as part of her outreach and advocacy work, she is also developing an app for smartphones that will help people plan plant-based meals. Oh, and did we mention that Theisen is just 15 years old? We are in awe of her energy and passion for making a difference!
Theisen is home-schooled and this has provided her with many unique learning opportunities. She has a strong connection with nature, and a lot of her education takes place outdoors. As a result, Theisen knows a considerable amount about the flora and fauna of her home state of Florida. For example, the photo shoot for this feature story took place at Park Lake in Tampa Bay, and during that meeting Theisen demonstrated both her comfort with and her exceptional knowledge of the local ecosystem, stopping to provide interesting tidbits of information about the plants and animals we encountered—“Spanish moss is neither Spanish, nor moss,” she was quick to point out. While engaged in the conversation, she would also frequently crouch down to point out and admire native mosses growing amidst the ground cover, or look skyward to listen intently to the calls of local birds.
Much of Theisen’s learning is also done “on the road,” as she travels frequently with her family. These trips are planned around opportunities for service and education, and in the coming months she will be visiting Aruba, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Japan. In addition to furthering her learning, Theisen is dedicated to ensuring that she is helping out in local communities when she travels—“I clocked about 370 hours of service in 2014,” she proudly announces.
Avalon Theisen founded Conserve It Forward when she was only 9 years old.
Theisen is very motivated and much of her work is self-guided. “She does a lot of self-teaching. Avalon has just asked for six new psychology books,” her mom Deborah quips with a smile. Theisen added, from the back seat of the car while we drove through the Lake Park that morning, “I have a passion for linguistics. I love Japanese culture and I’ve just started learning the language. I know a bit of Latin as well.” She recently read Change of Heart by Nick Cooney and has since developed a strong interest in psychology, specifically social psychology and how this can assist advocacy groups in becoming more effective at conveying their messages.
Theisen is an avid artist, and creates “Zentangles” as part of her education and outreach efforts. Each of these paintings has information about wildlife and conservation on the back and the overall piece is designed to be multi-purpose – it can be used as stationary or framed as a piece of artwork.
Theisen was recently named Humane Student of the Year by Animalearn, a well-deserved honour. This is one of several awards that Theisen has received in recent years, but this one holds special significance as she greatly admires the humane education work that Animalearn does and, in fact, has nominated the Director of this organization, Nicole Green, to be featured in the Unbound Project. (Theisen also nominated Kerryn Vaughan, author of, Magnificent Kids, a book celebrating the activism and engagement of many young people, including Theisen.)
Avalon Theisen with her mom, Deborah
Many who have worked with Theisen have remarked on her incredible focus and drive to make the world a better place. She doesn’t seek out the spotlight, but she has an incredible confidence when it comes to speaking about her work. She is hopeful and sees that things are starting to change in important ways. For example, while she was in Paris for the COP21 climate change conference, she noted that “it was incredible how many ordinary people at the event spoke specifically about how our food choices are affecting the natural world, and how starting to eat plant based can dramatically reduce our carbon footprint.” This connection between the food we consume and the state of the environment is one that continues to drive Theisen’s work. She feels that this is an important topic because it is one that is relevant to everybody—as she points out, “we have the chance to make change every time we eat, and fortunately, most of us have several opportunities to do this each day.”
Theisen’s work is so impressive that it is easy to forget that she is a teenager. However, when you talk with her, there are moments that you are quickly reminded of her youthful enthusiasm. For example, she lights up when remembering the elegant opulence of the White House, a location she visited as part of a delegation of youth participating in a discussion on climate change in 2015.
When asked what advice she has for young people who want to help make a difference in the world, Theisen had this advice:
Find something you care about deeply, and do everything you can for it. Encourage others to do small acts so that we can all help. In this way, all of our small roles add up to making big change for the world as a whole.
She is certainly living by these words and is an inspiration to so many!
Snakes are among the most maligned of all animals. For centuries they have been vilified and have stood as symbols of evil and vice in many cultures. They have repeatedly been relegated to the role of villain in countless fairy tales, fables, and works of art, and this has translated in to fear of and violence towards these animals. Even among those who declare themselves to be “animal lovers,” snakes tend to be overlooked and forgotten in the push to protect and defend other species. Melissa Amarello wants to change this. She is the co-founder and Director of Education of a group called Advocates for Snake Preservation (ASP), and in this role she works hard to challenge negative ideas about these animals in the hopes that people will start to think differently about snakes.
Amarello knows that this is an uphill battle, but she has learned that there are some effective ways to counter misconceptions about these animals. Due to the physical appearance of snakes, many people feel they cannot relate to them and, therefore, do not recognize the complex social lives and unique personalities that these animals have. In response to this ASP has developed a strategy in which photos and videos highlighting things like friendships among snakes are shared through social media channels. Amarello emphasizes the way that these tools can help to change attitudes towards snakes:
We focus on individual snakes, give them names, and tell their stories using photos and videos to illustrate snake behaviors that people find appealing and know little about (social behavior, parental care). Names and stories are powerful weapons in fostering compassion and understanding — it’s amazing how people’s perception immediately changes when an animal has a name.
Stories about how snakes form social bonds and how they sometimes do things like “babysit” the offspring of another snake are reinforced through videos taken by a camera that is operated remotely so as to not disturb the animals. Amarello points out that “snakes get a ton of bad press, so countering that with positive information is very helpful.” She encourages supporters of ASP’s work to share the stories and videos they post and to help tell positive stories about these animals—“people often trust information from their friends more than an expert. Never doubt the power of individual voices speaking up and out!” These stories also help to further the scientific information that exists about snakes, as few researchers have paid attention to these aspects of snake behavior.
Amarello first began working with snakes as an undergraduate student; as a graduate student she did behavioral studies on rattlesnakes as part of her academic research. During her graduate studies she had been working closely with nine snakes, and academic procedure and protocol dictated that she was supposed to euthanize them at the end of the study. Amarello realized that these animals did not deserve to die simply because she had completed her degree and instead ended up relocating them to venues where they would be used for education, including four she keeps in her home. She had been planning to continue her studies at the doctoral level, but had an epiphany, realizing that “snakes needed an advocate, not another scientist.” It was at that time when she founded her first advocacy organization, a group called Social Snakes.
Social Snakes has now transformed in to ASP, an organization she runs with her partner, Jeff. In addition to videos and stories shared on social media, ASP also publishes what they have discovered about the behavior of snakes in a wide range of venues, including peer-reviewed scientific journals. This work is helping to change the conversation about the social, emotional, and intellectual lives of snakes.
Amarello has always been interested in animals and recalls that right from when she was young she “wanted to be the Jane Goodall of snakes.” She points to how Goodall’s ideas and research methods were initially dismissed as being unscientific because they didn’t follow standard research methods, and how she wasn’t taken seriously at first in the male-dominated field of science because of her gender. However, as Amarello points out, Goodall “refused to change her methods to meet ‘scientific norms,’ and, as a result, discovered some pretty amazing things about chimpanzee behavior.” This has greatly inspired Amarello in the way she approaches her own research and advocacy work.
Amarello has great respect for those who do investigative work to help stop animal cruelty (including the Unbound Project’s own Jo-Anne McArthur with whom she has worked closely). She draws strength and inspiration from those who do this work—“to see what they see and keep going instead of drowning in despair” makes them heroes in Amarello’s eyes. She is also greatly inspired by many in her own local community (Tucson, AZ) who are working to make a difference for animals, and specifically pointed to the work of Jessica Shuman of Tucson CARES and Alecs Havardr of Tucson Feral Trap Neuter Return who have both “devoted to their lives to animals and do amazing work.”
Amarello and the ASP face many challenges in their mission to change the way that people think about snakes. In early March they will be launching their first major campaign, a campaign which aims to reform “rattlesnake roundups.” This is an expensive undertaking, the first of its kind for this volunteer-run, non-profit organization. For more information on how you can help support this work, please visit the campaign website.
