Workers care for cows in rural regions of South Asia

Herders and Shepherds experience significant challenges in keeping their livestock healthy and growing. The physical environment in the dry, mountainous regions of South Asia offers limited resources for the buffaloes, cows, and sheep living there.

“There is not a great deal of inoculation going on and many animals are fed a very basic diet, meaning simply grass that was harvested in the fall and dried on the roof tops”, one worker writes. Medicines and vitamins, though available, have not been easily accessible.

Vets in private practice spend most of their efforts on the commercial chicken farms and are therefore not available to help the subsistence farmers who have from one to several cows or buffaloes or the nomadic shepherds with a few hundred sheep or goats.

Veterinary workers who come to the area to assist with inoculations also endeavor to educate and train the local people as much as possible so that they are better able to care for their own animals on an ongoing basis. Interestingly, most of the animal husbandry is done by women in the family.

For a very small amount, $1, veterinary workers can provide the inoculations and vitamins for one animal. Hundreds of animals need this help! Animal husbandry is a primary livelihood for dozens of nomadic families. Please mark your online gift Inoculations and Vitamins, or send a check, made payable to TEAM, with a note indicating your preference for inoculations and vitamins.