Esteem Magazine

Animal SOS Sri Lanka

Animal SOS Sri Lanka has been caring for street animals in Sri Lanka for more than two decades and as the season approaches calls on everyone to extend a little joy to or four-legged friends.

The vision behind Animal SOS Sri Lanka came from seeing the suffering and helplessness of street animals in the country. Its Founder Kim Cooling visited the island 20 something years ago as a tourist and was deeply affected and upset by the suffering of the animals that she witnessed. Kim knew then and there that she needed to do something.

Twenty years down the line Animal SOS Sri Lanka is an UK Registered Charity and registered BOI non-profit making company in Sri Lanka. Its main functionalities include providing Emergency Veterinary Care and rehabilitation to animals in dire need, providing refuge and care to sick, injured, disabled, abused and other vulnerable animals that are unable to live safely on the streets, feeding around 3000 dogs and cats every day in the largest feeding program on the island, providing free neutering and rabies vaccinations within the communities, providing adoption/re-homing schemes, promoting loving kindness and compassion to our animal friends, and also providing employment opportunities to local communities.

“Animal SOS Sri Lanka is pro-life and we fight desperately for every animal that is brought to us. However, over the years one of the hardest parts of running the organization has been funding”, says Kim.

The Animal SOS Sri Lanka shelter currently houses 2000 rescues at the sanctuary including around 400 disabled dogs. The cost of their feeding and care programmes are mammoth to say the least. The organization has been funded by generous donations from animal lovers around the world but constantly finds itself needing more as cost of food and care continues to rise.

“We are also dealing with some entrenched and very negative attitudes towards animals. There are people who will say things like we need to help humans before animals. There are also many cases of animal cruelty or animal neglect that we have had to deal with in the recent past. The pandemic and lockdown situations have added to the problem with people being unable to feed their pets and abandoning them on the streets or letting them roam free. We also have to deal with too many unrealistic demands to take every sick/injured animal on the island in. We wish we could help them all but we simply can't” she added.

Animal SOS Sri Lanka has also been a campaigning for the enactment of the Animal Rights Bill and finds it unfortunate that the delays are leading to more cruelty and harm from humans. “It is our duty as the dominant species to protect those at our mercy from the cruelty and destructiveness of humans. Without effective laws, this is a huge failing and one that is having monumental consequences on animals and society as a whole. Almost daily we see the most horrific animal cruelty cases with no consequences at all. The perpetrators remain free to continue harming and killing with impunity. This is particularly alarming as there is a well-established links between animal abuse, family violence and even serial killers” Kim warns.

Communities and individuals who are concerned about animal welfare can help to support organizations like Animal SOS Sri Lanka by spreading awareness, donating funds, and supplies like rice, bedding, towels, volunteering their time and promoting the message about loving kindness and tolerance to our animal friends. With more support, these organizations can do more, expand their project, extend their outreach work and help many more animals in dire need.

As the season approaches why not consider making even the smallest contribution to make life better for these animals.

To Donate;
Commercial Bank
Galle Fort Branch
A/C 1050013061 A/C
Animal SOS Lanka (Pvt) Ltd
Contact- [email protected]
Tel-0773 110879

Animal SOS Sri Lanka