About us

Nepal is a poor country that has recently undergone an extended period of political instability. Animal welfare is a low priority among many other pressing concerns. HART aims to reduce animal suffering over as wide a geographical range as possible, starting from a base in Pokhara.

Pokhara
Pokhara was originally a market town, but has grown into a tourist destination over the past twenty years. It is about 200km from Kathmandu and has a population of around 200,000 people.

It's situated near Lake Fewa at the base of the Annapurna range foothills and is the third largest city in Nepal after Kathmandu and Biratnagar.

Pokhara is an ideal location from which to access the rest of Nepal.

Bharatpur
Bharatpur is a city in the central-southern part of Nepal, located in the Chitwan district, 126km from Pokhara and close to the popular Chitwan National Park. It is the headquarters of the district as well as a separate Municipal authority, and is the seventh largest city of Nepal with the population of nearly 120,000 (census 2005).

Bharatpur is also one of the fastest growing cities of Nepal, showing a population increase of some 30% during the preceding four years.

On an average 75 people receive post exposure rabies vaccination each month. Rabies is prevalent in Chitwan with cases reported from villages adjoining Bharatpur. The Himalayan Times recently published an article about the shortage of rabies vaccine at the Bharatpur hospital. You can read it here

Dogs
There are significant populations of street-dogs in all urban areas of Nepal.

These live short, difficult lives. The local authorities have traditionally controlled the numbers of roaming dogs by the inhumane use of strychnine poison.

HART seeks to humanely reduce the roaming dog populations and to improve their status and their treatment by the communities in which they live.

Cats
There are far fewer un-owned cats than dogs in Nepal. However it was noted that a feral population was growing in Pokhara and this was targeted in a sterilisation campaign in Autumn 2011.

Equines
Mules and donkeys are used as working animals throughout the country and many suffer dire conditions. Currently, HART does not have the resources to attempt any programmes to alleviate their situation.

HART has opened a branch in the south of Nepal, in Bharatpur, to bring its programmes to an area that, to date, has received no charitable help for its animals.

Additionally, HART assists other NGO's vets to further their programmes by providing its tented clinic and staff on request.

In all its activities HART seeks to become integrated with all the relevant local stakeholders, including the municipal authorities, the local veterinary authorities, the community development committees ('Tole Bikash Samiti') and the district livestock authorities.

HART also has an excellent relationship with IAAS, the veterinary teaching college in Rampur, Chitwan.