The COVID-19 pandemic is thought to be caused by the destruction of nature by humans, the resulting loss of habitat for many animal species, the ever-greater interaction of humans with wild animals and through human’s large-scale animal exploitation. The Bhutan Animal Rescue and Care (BARC) therefore advocates for structural changes in the relationship between humans and nature, for human self-preservation, animal welfare and the prevention of another pandemic.

BARC emerged over the past 20 years from a personal initiative of Marianne Guillet (also known as “Rochi Ama” or “Mother of Dogs”), a French architect and geographer turned veterinarian and Hendrik Visser, a Dutch civil engineer and sociologist. They came to Bhutan 25 years ago and settled initially in Zhemgang, where they started to rescue street dogs and wildlife in need. The number of animals in need of care kept growing and in June 2013 Marianne, Hendrik and their close friends and supporters established BARC as a civil society organization in Bhutan.

BARC supports the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 emergency, as the most effective way to prevent further infections and to get back to some kind of normalcy as soon as possible. “We regularly deal with outbreaks of contagious diseases such as dog-distemper and know that strict protocols for preventing further spreading of such a disease is critical in stopping pandemics,” shared Hendrik Visser. BARC therefore implemented strict COVID-19 protocols at the animal rescue center in Yusipang for staff, patient intake and visitors.

“The closing of borders and the ceasing of tourism was very challenging for us. Instead of collecting leftover food from hotels and restaurants, we had to purchase a professional rice cooker and prepare food for our 300 plus dogs on a daily basis,” said Hendrik, further adding, “But stray dogs were suffering even more as they had limited access to food. We therefore organized a BBS, social media and newspaper campaign to encourage our community volunteers and ordinary people to feed the dogs in the street and to help us with donations to feed the dogs and other animals in our care. It was heartwarming to see the compassionate response of people and through people’s kindness, many dogs have been saved from starvation. Please keep donating some biscuits or cook some extra food for them!”

The lockdowns are a very difficult time for everybody. Hendrik explained that during extended lockdowns they also suffered from a lack of food for the animals, especially fruits and vegetables for their 40 rescued macaque monkeys. They constructed a large store at the center and now have extra stock in a store in Olakha, provided free by a friend. However, for animals who depend on perishable food items they can only manage about two weeks stock. They usually take leftover vegetables from the Centenary Farmers Market and vegetable shops on a daily basis, however both are not possible during lockdowns. “We also only had limited staff at the center and were not able to pick-up sick and injured street dogs due to movement restrictions. While we received many calls from people seeing animals suffering in the streets because of starvation and disease, we could no longer provide treatment for pets with regular medical needs such as cancer treatment (chemotherapy). Giving advice over WhatsApp and phone was our best option but that is not always enough, which is tragic,” said Hendrik. Once collaborations with other animal welfare organizations became possible, BARC received many sick and injured animals at the centre, which was in turn overwhelming and are now working on creating extra space to shelter more animals and getting extra staff to provide medical care.

“We are consequently immensely grateful for the benevolence and foresight of His Majesty The Druk Gyalpo to direct military personnel to feed all the stray dogs during the lockdowns, and for the De-suung for helping animals in need, which undoubtedly saved many lives! We are also grateful to our supporters who occasionally managed to bring vegetables and some animal food to our center. This is truly lifesaving! Without their compassion and personal action our animals would have suffered greatly.” said Hendrik.

The well-being of animals during COVID-19 emergencies and especially lock downs is an issue of importance for many citizens and sustainable sterilization programs are essential to prevent the largest suffering. Through the joint actions of citizens, government agencies, civil society and De-suungs, we can make a real difference, even in difficult times!