Mitrataa in the news!

On our recent visit to Nepal we ran the third pets as therapy afternoon at Bal Mandir. As always, the kids and the dogs had loads of fun and it is becoming even more rewarding as many of the kids now recognise the dogs and show enormous enthusiasm when their furry friends arrive.

A journalist and photographer from Nepali Times, one of Nepal's major English language newspapers, visited us during the session and you can read the resulting story at http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2008/10/17/Culture/15306.

Plans are now in place for the program to be run on a monthly basis and we are also investigating expanding it to include other institutions so stay tuned...

Pets as Therapy arrives in Nepal - Part 2

This post is a continuation of the previous entry which you can read by clicking here.

We had selected 2 adorable dogs from KAT to be the first pets as therapy mascots. Mango is a Tibetan Terrier and KAT’s own mascot after he was rescued from the street in a terrible condition. He loves people and has a very easygoing temperament. Tara is also a KAT rescuee and is paraplegic so she can only use her front 2 legs to move. This doesn’t stop her at all and she likes to think she is ‘queen bee’ in the KAT compound!

So a day after the girls from Bal Mandir had visited KAT, we piled the 2 dogs into a taxi and set off for Bal Mandir. None of us really knew what to expect so there was some trepidation in the air.

We need not have worried. The dogs showed no concern as they were lead through the big hallways of the orphanage towards a room containing around 20 kids between the ages of 1 and 3 years. The looks on the children’s faces as 2 dogs entered their playpen was priceless. There were smiles, squeals of glee, curious stares and quite a few screams of terror! None of this seemed to faze Tara and Mango as they proceeded to sniff around the place and approach anyone who seemed even remotely interested in patting them.


With a small amount of encouragement almost all of the kids began to happily pat the dogs, and even the more scared ones began to join in as they saw their friends doing it. Fortunately we had the older girls from the day before’s visit to assist in soothing the more concerned kids. To help with children who were still afraid, we read a ‘Spot’ book to them and explained that these dogs were the same as the dog in the book so there was no need to be afraid. This worked magnificently and in the end all of the children had patted the dogs at least once.

Once everyone in the playpen was calm some of the older children with disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, were brought in to meet the dogs. Despite also showing some initial fear these kids quickly became much more comfortable with Tara and Mango and watching them patting the dogs and playing with them was simply beautiful. We were witnessing first hand what many studies had proven, that this type of interaction does wonders for a person’s mental state and emotional wellbeing.

The afternoon proved to be more amazing than we could have imagined and we didn’t want it to end. However after almost 2 hours of poking and prodding the dogs showed signs of tiring so we lead them back to their taxi and returned them to their home at KAT. There they were greeted with special treats and proceeded to chow down without a care in the world – it would seem it was all in a day’s work for Tara and Mango!

Pets as Therapy arrives in Nepal - Part 1

Following on from our recent visit to KAT we are excited to announce that the first Pets as Therapy project has commenced in Nepal!

Bec had spent the last few months working through a course that helped to set up such a program including how to choose appropriate dogs, how to train them, and how to teach the children the best way to treat the dogs ie. don't pull their tails!

We had chosen the orphanage at Bal Mandir as the first location to take the dogs as we have done a lot of projects there, we know the children well and were confident the staff would enjoy the idea and get involved. There are also a number of disabled children living there who we hoped would particularly benefit from the visit.

For the first stage of the project we took a group of 6 girls aged between 11 and 15 to visit the KAT centre. As we approached a big gate providing the only barrier between the girls and the sounds of many dogs barking excitedly the look of terror on their faces said it all – children in Nepal generally do not have good experiences with animals. But once the gate was opened and the girls were greeted by smiling faces and wagging tails the fear slowly began to dissipate. In fact the girls soon realised that the only danger here was having your hands slobbered all over!


Once the excitement settled down the girls were shown a small presentation on the importance of treating animals well which included some information on street dogs in Kathmandu and why this could be a problem. They were then taken on a tour of the facility which showed them the full range of problems street dogs could face but also the ways they can be treated and rehabilitated.

As the afternoon came to an end we were confident that these girls would be a great help to us as we introduced a couple of dogs to the other children at Bal Mandir. It was dinner time by the time we were driving back towards the orphanage so we decided to treat the girls to some momos at a local restaurant. As they were eating they suddenly erupted with squeals of excitement. Once they calmed down one of them was able to explain that a ‘hero’ (Nepali TV/film star) was sitting at the table opposite us! This really made their day and I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that girls in many ways were the same everywhere!!!

Stay tuned for part 2 – the day we took the dogs to Bal Mandir…

Day with dogs and a donkey...need therapy anyone?!

Yesterday afternoon provided us with one of the most enjoyable experiences here as we visited the KAT centre, just north of Kathmandu city. KAT is an organisation that rescues street dogs, provides them with vaccinations against rabies and other health care and also gives them the ‘family planning’ operation. When appropriate, the dogs are then fostered out to families or in some instances returned to the street. Kathmandu has a relatively large street dog problem although this has noticeably reduced in the past few years thanks to the work done by KAT. It is very important work as rabies is a serious problem when you have dogs roaming the streets amongst people and particularly children. It also helps to reduce the spread of other diseases which has to be a good thing for everybody.

We are working with KAT to introduce a Pets as Therapy program to Kathmandu. You can read more about this on our website - http://www.mitrataa.org/projects/pets_as_therapy.htm. In 2 weeks time we will be taking 3 of the well trained dogs from KAT to the Bal Mandir orphanage to let a small group of children play with them. The long term plan is to have these dogs provide stimulation and support to the disabled children at the orphanage, and then to expand to other orphanages and maybe even hospitals around the valley. We will also be providing a fun education program to the kids on appropriate ways to treat animals and the importance of looking after the health of animals to protect all of us.

As a part of this project we are also helping KAT with their animal education program that they give to school groups who visit the centre. In order to help them with this work we will be taking a small bus of around 10 children to the KAT centre to see the work that they do and also to learn about the importance of this work.

When at the centre yesterday afternoon it was so much fun to see all of the rehabilitated dogs and play with them for a while. Of course there were a number of less healthy dogs and this was difficult to see. In some instances their situation was the direct result of human abuse, an extremely disappointing and frustrating thing to witness. An unusual patient at the centre is a young donkey. It was found discarded in a rubbish pile with a broken leg – the result of being overworked and underfed in a local brickworks. Its situation was dire when it was rescued however it is responding very well to treatment and is surprisingly comfortable with human contact. We are looking at various possibilities for a long term home for her and already have some great potential locations!

If you are ever in Kathmandu, a visit to KAT is well worth your while. It gives you an uplifting and rewarding experience as well as a very different insight into Nepal and its culture.