Vegan Activists Provide Meals To People & Animals In Need In Kathmandu

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, May 17, 2020
In March 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic had found its way to Kathmandu. As the last planes departed Kathmandu and the entire country went into lock down, like much of the world, the capital of this Himalayan country would succumb to a new normal, uncertainty. A few days after lockdown began, vegan and animal rights activists in Kathmandu came together and teamed up with the co-founder of VegVoyages – a US-based vegan tour company, and his local partners to provide vegan meals for people in need or stranded who could not get back to their villages, as well as food for street dogs, monkeys and cows who relied on people who are now absent from the city’s streets to feed them.

Wanting to ensure the proper animal diet for the street animals, the team searched for a vegan dog food recipe online. Fortunately, they found recipes that had ingredients they could source locally and they went right to work preparing daily vegan meals for street animals throughout the city. Since then, the recipe has been shared across the country within the activist community inspiring other rescue programs to provide vegan food to dogs on the street and at some of the city’s animal shelters.

“It’s inspirational seeing vegan, animal rights and social activists joining together to serve vegan meals to both people and animals alike. This, in my opinion, is a reflection of what veganism is truly about,” said Zac Lovas from VegVoyages.

“Everyone is doing a great job keeping up their energy and efforts even as the lockdown gets extended, and the whole team is committed until people and animals can start to get back up on their own feet.” When asked why VegVoyages, a travel company that like many tourism businesses has been hit hard economically by the pandemic, got involved, Zac replied, “We’re definitely feeling the impact and we will for some time to come, but we help now because we can, and since we can, we must. It’s kind of like our mantra, so it’s what we do whenever, and wherever we can.”

As of the 17 th of May, it’s been 48 days since the team began and to date they have been able to provide 12,308 vegan meals for people, and 20,588 vegan meals for street animals including 10,608 vegan meals for street dogs and 9,980 vegan meals for street monkeys and cows. The team consists of Suresh Sharma (WVO Nepal & VegVoyages), Bikesh Shreshtha, (vegan activist & Chair SPCA Nepal), Radhe Khadka (social & vegan activist), Bina Panta & Rima Kapali (animal rights activists, SPCA Nepal), Niru Gurung and Sushil Shrestha (Co-founders C-YA Vegan Restaurant), Parbat Thapa & Ayush Shrestha (animal rights activists, SPCA Nepal), Rita Lumbu (animal rights activist & FM radio host),   Babalu Gupta (social activist), Saritanandi & Toya Yogi (social activists), Surajan Shrestha (Animal Rights Club activist), Jerry (chef at C-Ya vegan restaurant), Neha Shreshtha (animal rights activist), and Kajol Sethia (Vegan Dairy Nepal) and Zac Lovas (VegVoyages Co-founder).

Seeing the large amount of street dogs and puppies during their food runs in the city, post-lockdown the team plans to continue their collaboration and implement a large-scale spay/neuter program in the Kathmandu valley.  This has sparked the interest of several veterinarian activists from around the world who have also stepped forward and offered to help. We’ll keep you updated.

Read: 11 Reasons To Visit An Animal Shelter At Least Once In Your Life!
Read More: Help This 18-Year-Old Activist Build A Sanctuary For Animals