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Nowzad - Afghanistan

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Nowzad Animal Hospital

After the turbulence that has ensued since the Taliban were handed back power over Afghanistan on the 15th August 2021 the Nowzad charity has worked extremely hard to re-establish our operations in Kabul.

We are extremely proud of our staff who stayed behind through what was a hellish transition period after the events of August 2021 in Afghanistan. It is now time to move on and move peacefully forward, to look after the donkeys and horses (plus David the cow and Jaja the goat) that were already resident in our donkey sanctuary in Kabul.

Sadly our clinic was raided many times and our van confiscated which eventually forced a more to a new facility closer to the city.

In early 2022 our Afghan ground team headed up by the extremely brave Dr Reshad, reopened the Nowzad clinic and our first clients were very quickly coming through the door.

The majority of our services are still free for locals and their animals especially vaccinations and spay / neutering services.

Now that we are back operating and the word is spreading, we have seen many concerned locals, who thankfully never looked the other way, bringing injured dogs and cats to us for treatment. We were actually quite overwhelmed when one happy rescuer returned with flowers to thank the team for treating the dog he had brought to us.

The team have been dealing with several dogs sadly suffering from rabies; which involves the dangerous operation of capturing the dog so it can be humanely PTS (there is no cure), followed by delivering a poster campaign to warn local residents to be on the lookout whilst we also notify medical practitioners should anyone in the area be bitten by a street dog. Over 1000 Afghan nationals are known to die each year from rabies.

The team is expanding to cope with the workload. 

In early 2022 our Afghan ground team headed up by the extremely brave Dr Reshad, opened the new Nowzad clinic and our first clients were very quickly coming through the door. Through the hard work and dedication of the Nowzad staff the clinic is now a fully functioning and well equipped facility. It is also the base for Nowzad’s various programs which include:-

  • TNVR (trap, neuter, vaccinate, release) campaigns which humanely reduce the stray animal population and disease;
  • The Working Animal Program which provides treatment for the working donkeys, horses and mules;
  • The Education program which provides animal welfare and rabies awareness education in the community and animal husbandry education to the owners of the working animals;

The majority of our services are still free for locals and their animals especially vaccinations and spay / neutering services. All this important work has been acknowledged by the authorities and in 2023 the clinic was granted Animal Hospital status. 

There are approximately 5,900 working donkeys, horses and mules working in Kabul and its surrounding districts. Many suffer from overwork and neglect. The animals are often owned by the poorest members of society who struggle to provide even the most basic of care. We have had a steady stream of working animal clients, struggling with severe and often very old wounds from ill-fitting saddles or harnesses. Many horses and donkeys suffer injuries from failing down whilst navigating uneven or soft ground whilst carrying unbelievable heavy loads.

Dr Reshad and the Kabul team are working hard to provide veterinary and farrier treatment and vaccinations. Importantly too they give animal husbandry advice to the owners. 

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In 2023, Nowzad joined the new Asia for Animals Dog and Cat Coalition with other like-minded NGOs working on improving standards of companion animal welfare across Asia.

With your support Nowzad is once more at the forefront of animal welfare in Afghanistan. Please continue to be there for those animals in their hour of need. Thank you.

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