Welfare for Animals in Goa

Animal Sanctuary and Rescue Centre in Goa

About W.A.G

How we came to be

Atul Sarin and Stephanie Panayiotou, with the support of a small group of dedicated animal lovers, having many years of animal welfare experience, decided to set up WAG with an emphasis on adoptions and sterilisations. They also realised that many cows in Goa are abandoned by their owners and are strays too; they face similar difficulties to stray dogs and cats. With that in mind, a small NGO was set up in 2005, reporting dogs and cats for sterilizations, and rescuing stray, injured cattle. Since then we have grown into a Cattle Sanctuary and a fully functioning

Veterinary Rescue Clinic. Our Shelter provides a home for injured cows, goats, pigs, chickens, you name it! Here they receive medical treatment, healthy food and a home to recuperate. WAG’s Rescue Clinic houses in patient dogs and cats. Strays who have faced the harshest lives on the street finally have a place to rest and heal.

We Love Our Animals and What We Do!

At WAG we believe that every life matters. We do what we can, with limited resources, to ensure that all our rescues receive the best love and care.​

Rescue Clinic

Our fully functioning Veterinary Rescue Clinic has helped thousands of stray animals since it’s establishment. We focus on Animal Birth Control (ABC) Programmes, where we sterilise as many stray animals as possible in North Goa. So far we have carried out over 3000 stray animal sterilizations.

We also re-home & rehabilitate injured dogs & cats from road accidents, attacks, skin & viral diseases. As part of our Semi-Care Adoption Programme our younger rescues are prepped for adoption where we provide free vaccinations for 1 year, free sterilizations & home visits to adopters.

Cow Gaushala/Shelter

Cows have a hard life in India; they are mostly left on the streets to fend for themselves. This makes them prone to vehicle accidents and as they are forced to forage for their own food, they scavenge through piles of rubbish eating anything from plastic to battery cells. Our shelter in the only one currently in North Goa providing medical aid & therapeutic care to injured & abused Cattle. Through our Stray Cattle Programme, we are aiming towards a day when there are no stray cattle wandering the streets. To achieve our long term goal as above, we have pioneered a Cattle Sterilisation Programme and have already successfully sterilised several bull calves.

Beach Feeding and Monitoring Programme

As Goa is a tourist city, from October-April there are many beach shacks and restaurants open. During this time the stray beach dogs and cats have plenty of food to survive. However, off-season (May-October) many, if not all, of these beach shacks shut. As a result our strays are left with no source of food and have to fend for themselves for those long 6 months. This is how our Programme began. Through this we are able to feed, sterilize, vaccinate and treat over 60 beach animals. We also bring puppies and kittens in for adoption and vaccination.

Pioneering

To ensure our animals no longer suffer the strains of living on the streets we sterilise bull calves, source various supplements and super foods to ensure they receive the best diet for their condition, have a cow frame built to ensure that our cows are not stressed when needing to be restrained. We stock anti-venom for administering to victims of snake bite.

We have initiated a group on FB (Pet Life Goa) where the local animal lovers exchange useful information, report animals in distress, coordinate with other members and organisations, reach out to those animals, and ensure that timely help and support is provided. Many an animal has been rescued with coordinated effort by the volunteers.
WAG also tries to educate local youngsters on the importance of animal welfare through our Education Programme by individually initiating school visits to our Shelter and Clinic. We support local animal owners with educational resources, providing medical treatment, microchipping, boarding and other facilities that help enhance the lives of the locally owned animals.

Our Animals

WAG currently takes care of 120 animals on a daily basis. These range from turkeys, chickens, goats, dogs, cats, cows & other birds. Every day our dedicated staff look after these rescues , where they will spend the rest of their lives, safe & warm at our Sanctuary. With so many animals under our care, but with limited resources & funding, we need YOUR HELP in ensuring they get the best medical care & food.

​Help us continue to home these beautiful rescues by sponsoring them. Your sponsorship will include food, vaccines & medical care.

​Cattle Sponsorship is RS. 10,000 for ONE YEAR

Dog or Cat Sponsorship is RS. 5,000 for ONE YEAR

Help Us
There are a number of ways how YOU can help!

​Donate

WAG receives no government funding, and relies on your donations, to buy medicines and other clinical equipment, food, collars, leads, cages, along with costs of rescuing, catching and transporting sick animals or those requiring sterilization.

Examples of possible donations and how your money is utilized:

• 500 rupees (£5) 10 worming tablets (treating 3 dogs for 1 year) or Vaccinate 2 dogs against rabies for 1 year
• 1000 rupees (£10) Vaccinate 1 dog or 1 cat against 6 viruses for 1 year (Using the “All-In-1”)
• 2000 rupees (£20) Sterilize 1 dog or cat (including all operative and post operative medication, rabies vaccination and deworming)
• 5000 rupees (£50) Feed and fully care for 1 dog for a whole year, or 1 humane dog catching net
• 10,000 rupees (£100) Buys 1 dog and 1 cat transport cage (essential for transporting the animals humanely to and from veterinary care) or a combination of any of the above
• 50,000 rupees (£500) Sterilizes 25 cats or dogs (including all operative and post operative medication, rabies vaccination and deworming)
• 1 Lakh (£1000) Feed and fully care for 4 family packs (20 dogs) for a whole year

Pay-it-Forward: We now have our unique version of the ‘Pay-it-Forward’ scheme, where you have the opportunity to pay-it-forward when you sterilize your pet or vaccinate your pet. This scheme gives you the opportunity to help a stray animal in the same way you are helping your pet. For more details please see the attached poster through this link: Pay it forward scheme

WAG

We are always in need of the following items (new and used): Pet carriers, cat and dog toys, collars, leads, yoga mats, towels, bed sheets, pillows, feeding/water bowls and newspapers.

Food items required include: Dry and tinned cat and dog food, fresh fruit and vegetable scraps and other food items we can feed our increasing number of cats, dogs and cows we feed.

These can be dropped off at our clinic or if this is not possible, we can try and arrange collection.