Animal advocate Sandra Kyle returns from trip to India

Animal advocate Sandra Kyle has returned from India.

Well-known animal advocate Whanganui-based Sandra Kyle has returned home after an extended trip to India where she visited animal shelters and individuals caring for street animals.

“I’ve been a lifelong lover of animals, I have advocated for them for many decades,” said Sandra. “I first visited India 30 years ago to pursue yoga goals, and in each of my six trips since then I have felt bad about the state of the many street animals, so this time I decided to focus just on them.

“I raised nearly $23,000 through Givealittle and chuffed.org, and as I travelled from city to city, I distributed it to individuals and organisations who I knew were doing good work to improve the problem.

“I made sure the recipients were bona fide, I did due diligence on that. I fed animals myself, walking around with dog and cat food, like a bag lady, and also sponsored mass feedings.

“I paid for sterilisations and vaccinations and helped buy equipment. In one case I paid for a larger enclosure for disabled Rhesus monkeys; another project I contributed to was for water to be distributed in Tamil Nadu (one of the hottest states) for the benefit of cows, dogs, cats, birds, and other animals in the punishing summer heat.

“As well as donations, I tried to give moral support and encouragement, especially in the smaller places where people with very little money themselves were trying to help animals.

“It’s a large, and very visible, problem in India. The many wandering cows are liable to get injured by traffic. There’s lots of plastic in the rubbish dumps they eat from, and 90 per cent of Indian cows have plastic in their stomachs.

“Street dogs are hungry, thirsty, and can also be knocked down by traffic. Poor street dogs are homeless, nameless, and depressed, and it’s the same with cats. It’s such a hard life for them all,” she said.

Sandra visited eight cities, travelling by train and plane, moving on every few days. For some of the time she had her friend and fellow animal advocate Rob McNeil with her.

“He was a great support, especially arranging the travel and hotel side of things.”

Sandra also wanted to raise awareness about what people could do for animals in their communities and was interviewed on All India Radio plus three local TV stations.

She said the good news is that more people now are taking an interest in animals, putting food out for them, and so on.

“This is a definite improvement, and I was pleased to see that.

“Suffering doesn’t have a border, it’s all around the world - neither does compassion have borders. I wanted to reach out to a country I have connections with and try to help in a small way, and I think I achieved this.”

Tireless in her work for animals, Sandra is on the executive of the new Animal Justice Party of Aotearoa, which will be standing in the upcoming election.

■ Sandra is still in touch with the organisations she and her donors helped in India. If you would like to contribute any money to this cause, Sandra’s bank account is 38-9010-0678027-00 in the name of S I Kyle.