As he bends over one last time to pat Kanchhi, he looks up smiling and content. “This is my reward,” he says.[break]
Kanchhi was one of the first bitches that Dr Joshi operated on, spaying her and taking care of her when she was sick and mangy. There are many stray dogs like Kanchhi in Bhaktapur who have been treated by Dr Joshi and now living healthy happy lives.
The 31 years old vet currently runs the non-profit Bhaktapur Animal Welfare Society (BAWS) which treats diseased and injured dogs and stray animals and also spays or neuters them to maintain a healthy dog population in Bhaktapur. And it all started out of a friendly challenge over the tea, he says.
“I was interning at a veterinary clinic and was constantly talking about how expats and non-Nepalis were working for the welfare of stray animals but people here were least concerned about it,” Dr Joshi says.
A friend then challenged him not to just talk but start by treating a mangy looking puppy that was sitting in front of them at the time, and so he did.
“It’s been four years now that my home became a temporary shelter for dogs. I started bringing home dogs with open wounds, diseases, ghastly tumors, fungus and worms growing on their skin and I’m glad my family hasn’t thrown me out,” says the vet, laughing. He also has scars and marks from bites and skin diseases transmitted from sickly dogs to show as proof.
Photo credit: Dipesh Shrestha
Earning his keeps as meat inspector and through his H & H Meat Shop in Golfutar, all the work, time and money he puts into BAWS has been voluntary. Initially, many friends helped him out. Eventually, they got busy in their own jobs and family life but for Dr Joshi, there was no turning back.
As child, he had dreamt of becoming a wildlife expert. But because of financial constraints, he could not pursue the career he wanted and had almost lost his goal in life. He then joined the Himalayan Institute of Agriculture, Science and Technology and trained as a vet, thinking he could somehow still work with animals.
The work at BAWS gave him a new outlook. Though he still loves to conduct research and study animal behavior and patterns in the wild, he says the dream of becoming a wildlife expert has become secondary.
“My primary focus now is to work for stray dogs and animals.”
Over the years, the work has expanded as BAWS not only focuses on treatment but preventive measures as well by running citywide campaigns like dispensing anti-rabies vaccination and Animal Birth Control clinics. Financial shortage has often been a problem, but Dr Joshi, with the help of his veterinarian colleagues and volunteers from the Riders of Bhaktapur (ROB), a biker community doing stunts and volunteer works, has been operating the clinic and running campaigns as much and often as their resources allow.
The Week salutes Dr Pranav Raj Joshi for treating human beings’ best and most loyal friends.
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