The Nepal Weekly 
February 22, 2022
Some people are kind in nature, while others are jealous, while some others are even violent. Some people love animals more than they do love humans. Here is a story about Rasmi Tuladhar, a woman who has a very kind hear towards animals. Rasmi Tuladhar, 53, has been raising nine dogs and 10 cats in an old house built on a small plot of land at Jyatha Inbahal in Ranipokhari in the heart of Kathmandu. It has been almost 20 years since she started taking care of dogs at home. After the death of her father in 2064 BS and his mother in 2070 BS, for her dogs and cats are the only friends
However, Rasmi got married 30 years ago but with a third gender man without knowing the fact, and they got separated within 2 years. According to Rasmi, her sister and brother live in different places with their own families. It’s not that they didn’t try to get Rasmi to stay together take her with him, but he asked her to abandon the dog and the cat and didn’t leave home even for a single night. “From an early age, when you see dogs and cats, you bring them home, love them, and tell them that you have a habit of feeding them,” says Rashmi.
She says that even while talking about the condition of sick and injured dogs in the street, she would get hurt. If a cat or dog in the house gets sick, she would not sleep throughout the night. She usually sleeps in her bed at night accompanied by three dogs.
She goes to Gaushala, Tilganga, Ratnapark, Durbar Marg, Ranipokhari, Nepal Airlines complex daily carrying food for the street dogs. She daily feeds 20 to 25 stray dogs. If there was enough space at home she would bring everyone along the way and keep them with her. Her daily routine is to get up at 4:15 in the morning, feed the dogs and cats that are staying at her home, clean them and then go to different places in the morning to feed stray dogs. Even if someone informs her that there is a sick dog in some place, she would run to the place to take care of them.
Among the dogs kept with her some have been trampled by a vehicle and some who are unable to walk. She has got her dogs vaccinated regularly. Rasmi has been spending more than Rs 23,000 per month for dogs and cats. According to Rasmi, now everyone inside and outside the house needs eight to nine bags of rice.
Rasmi is being supported regularly by her sister, their children and three or four neighbours she knows. Rashmi’s right hand does not move since her birth and her left hand is also weakened by the earthquake. However, she continues to work for the dogs. It is not that Rasmi has not been advised by many to open an institution, but she has been providing personal services without the institution so that the stray animals do not suffer. She says that There are many people who look after helpless people but there was no one to look after the poor animals. Especially in Nepal, it is difficult to find medicine for dogs but Dr. Pokharel, who prescribes medicines at low cost is being very helpful for Rasmi. Even though she is a vegetarian, for dogs and cats, she always has to cook non-vegetarian food.
ºIt doesn’t cost much to support my living. What I mostly spent is for dogs and cats,º says Rashmi. Rasmi, has been working continuously since 2060 BS looking after the animals, but now she has become unemployed as the organization where she used to serve has carried out various undesirable activities that forced her to leave. She had collected some gold, which she had already spent for feeding the animals, she recalls.
She cries while recalling the condition of dogs having taken care by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The stray dogs are in better condition than those kept by the metropolis, she adds. She is currently in search of a job to for income generation to feed the dogs. She has been feeding the helpless dogs with the interest received from her fixed deposit, which comes around Rs 14,000 per month. Besides that, she is receiving some amount of money sent from abroad by her sister’s children and donation received from some acquaintances.
