WHOM TO GO?

DELHI NCR

Gauri Maulekhi

Protégé of Maneka Gandhi, Gauri Maulekhi is an animal rights

activist and a co-opted member of the Animal Welfare Board of
India. She started working for People for Animals in Lucknow in
1995 as a volunteer, where she contributed greatly in setting up the
first animal shelter in the city. She then joined the Society for
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Noida where she
worked from 2004 to 2008. Gauri Maulekhi has led multiple
successful campaigns for animal rights, the most well known being
the campaign against sacrificial slaughtering of cattle.

• She chose to work for monkeys.

• Organisation Represented: People for Animals
Contact her: gaurimaulekhi@gmail.com
 Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi - Chairperson,
People For Animals

Maneka Gandhi is a self-described environmentalist and animal rights

leader in India. She has earned international awards and acclaim. She
was appointed chairwoman of the Committee for the Purpose of Control
and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) in 1995.

She started the organisation People for Animals in 1992 and it is the
largest organisation for animal rights/welfare in India. Maneka Gandhi
is also a patron of International Animal Rescue. While she is not a
vegan, she has advocated this lifestyle on ethical and health grounds.
She has also authored a book under the same title. Her other books were
about Indian people names. She is a cast member for the documentary
A Delicate Balance.

• Organisation Represented: People for Animals

• She is also a patron of International Animal Rescue.
• She also anchored the weekly television program Heads and Tails,
highlighting the suffering meted out to animals due to their commercial
exploitation.
Contact her: gandhim@sansad.nic.in
 Ambika Shukla

Ambika Shukla of New Delhi is widely considered

one of Asia's leading advocates to protect animals
and wildlife. Educated in the United States, she has
worked with numerous global organisations such as
the World Wildlife Federation in drawing attention
to the subject of cruelty to animals. She runs a
nonprofit, nonpartisan organisation called People for
Animals, which operates animal shelters in virtually
all of India's 29 states. Ms Shukla is a popular
speaker on the lecture circuit in India, South-east
Asia, Europe and the United States. She is the head
of Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre and can send
ambulances wherever necessary during animal
emergency.
• Organisation Represented: People for Animals
• Hospital run by her: Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care
Centre
• Her mission is to provide sick, wounded and abandoned animals food,
shelter, medication, kindness, safety and care for as long as they need it.
 Anjali Gopalan

She has been passionate about animals and their rights since
a child. In 2010 she volunteered at a supposedly well-run
shelter in Delhi and found the place alarmingly lacking in
care and compassion. Having worked with children with HIV
for over two decades she applied her experience and
knowledge that both children and animals cannot heal and be
happy in a joyless place. Her vision is, as it had been with
children born with HIV, to create a sanctuary that would be
their home. ACGS(All Creatures Great and Small) was
designed to be a sanctuary for sick and disabled animals that
were not capable of surviving in the wild or on the street until
they could either be rehabilitated or adopted.

• Founder of: All Creatures Great and Small

• She has already adopted over 350 abandoned and abused dogs. While the numbe
increases daily, her shelter is always willing to take in as many abandoned
animals as possible to help them recuperate and lead a decent life.
Contact her: gopalan.anjali@gmail.com
 Geeta Sheshamani
Geeta Sheshamani started working in 1979 with an animal
welfare organization called Friendicoes SECA in New Delhi. Her
passion is Wildlife Conservation and Research. She has been a
Member of the Animal Welfare Board of India, Central Zoo
Authority, Government of India and has received several life
time achievement awards and felicitations for her work in the
field. Geeta established Wildlife SOS, India (wildlifesos.org) in
1995 with Kartick Satyanarayan that runs several projects to
support Bear conservation in India including the largest
rehabilitation center in the world for sloth bears. She is now
focused on tackling Bear conservation issues through
biodiversity conservation, protecting sloth bear and black bear
habitat and creating bear conservation and education programs to
mitigate bear human conflict in India, wherever there is an
increase in human-bear conflict.

• Organisation Represented: Friendicoes SECA(Society for the Eradication of

Cruelty to Animals)
• She chose to work for dogs, cats and domestic animals.
 Sadhwi Sondhi

Sadhwi Sondhi who at the young age of

only seventeen decided to create awareness
to the plight of stray and abandoned
animals in New Delhi by starting up her
very own NGO. She has always been
passionate about helping animals and is an
avid animal rights advocate.

• Started her own NGO: Red Paws Rescue

• She chose to work for stray dogs and cats.

Contact her: redpawsrescue@gmail.com

 KARNATAKA
Anoopa Anand

The Economic Times described her as a ‘Writer by profession

and an animal welfare worker by vocation’ in their article that
dates back to 2015, and the line pretty much sums up Anoopa
Anand.

Anoopa had grown up surrounded by animals and it was her

love for them that made her open a pet sitting service to bring
back companionship of animals in her new life, but the
realization of the sheer number of animals on the streets who
did not get the care they needed led to the transformation of her
service “Nanny Woof” into a place for abandoned, abused
animals to recover till they find a permanent home.

• Organisation Represented: CUPA, Voice of Stray Dogs, CARE and Let's Live
Together
• Dogs are her area of expertise, she has also taken care of cats, crows, pigeons, goats
 Nevina Kamath

After completing her Masters degree in Environment and

Ecology from the Indian Institute of Ecology and
Environment, Delhi, Nevina decided to work with wildlife.
However she soon realized the “problem of plenty” syndrome
with street animals in India. Nobody cared for them and the
animals were left on the streets sick, hungry and homeless.
That was the time she started her work in animal welfare.

• She chose to work for urban street animals

• She conducts various sensitization programs and awareness campaigns in
schools and colleges besides working as an on ground animal rescuer.
 Sowmya Reddy

Daughter of Home Minister of Bengaluru,

Ramalinga Reddy, Sowmya completed her degree
in Chemical Engineering and then went on to
pursue her Masters in Environment Technology
from New York Institute of Technology. In college
she started an animal rights and environmental
group called Sanjeevini and then connected to a
wider network in Bengaluru, With years of
experience in grass root activism.

• She is one of the most well known animal rights activists in Bengaluru. She is also
an ex-member of Animal Welfare Board of India.

Contact her: sowmyareddyrr@gmail.com

 Yasmine Claire

One of the lesser known faces in animal activism,

Yasmine is a school teacher by profession and her
house is a refuge for all the homeless or abandoned
cats and dogs in the city. With the support of her
husband, Yasmine has transformed her house into a
haven for animals. On twitter, Yasmine is very vocal
on issues centered around but not limited to animals.

• Her place is the unofficial address for abandoned cats and dogs.
 Krithi
Karanth

A Conservative Biologist born in Mangalore, Krithi is

currently an Associate Conservation Scientist
with Wildlife Conservation Society, New York and the
executive director at Center for Wildlife
Studies, Bangalore. She has been researching on
wildlife in India for the past 16 years and has become
the torch bearer for wildlife conservation in India
having worked on more than 25 projects in the
country.

• She works on issues such as human-animal conflict and land use change.
• She works on issues such as Human Animal-Conflict and Land Use Change.
 Uma Ramkrishnan

A molecular ecologist working as an associate professor at

NCBS, Uma and her team work on the conservation of
endangered mammals of the Indian subcontinent such as wild
cats, leopards and macaque monkeys. Her name today is
synonymous with tiger conservation in India. Born in
Bengaluru and brought up in The Indian Institute of Science
where her father was a physicist, Uma was introduced to
nature early on in life. From there grew her love for animals
and her determination to make a change. She is a member
of National Board for Wildlife, a Ramanujan fellow and a
DAE Outstanding scientist.

• Uma and her team work on the conservation of endangered

mammals of the Indian subcontinent such as wild cats,
leopards and macaque monkeys.
• She is a member of National Board for Wildlife.
Contact her: uramakri@ncbs.res.in
 HARYANA
Prerna Singh Bindra

One of India’s leading environmental journalists

and a widely published author, Prerna Bindra has
been on the forefront of the battle to conserve
wildlife resources of India for over a decade. She
was a member of India’s National Board for
Wildlife and its core standing committee from
2010 to 2013.

• She has also served on Uttarakhand’s State Board for Wildlife.

• She mainly focuses on protecting wildlife habitats and critically
endangered species.
Contact her: info@prernabindra.com
 KERALA
Trisha Krishnan

The Tamil Actress is a popular face on the big screen but

her acting skill is not the only admirable trait she
possesses. She has spoken out against experimentation and
product testing on animals in laboratories. She wrote a
letter to the government requesting for action to be
undertaken to release 70 beagles, who had allegedly been
imported from China as ‘pets’, but most probably were to
be used for some experiments. She faced immense
backlash on social media for taking a stand against
Jallikattu, a traditional bull taming event in Tamil Nadu.

• The actress is also an animal rights activist and has been

associated with People for Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) through which she advocates and promotes the adoption
of stray animals.
 MAHARASHTA
Dr Manilal Valliyate
As PETA India’s director of veterinary affairs – a position
Valliyate, who completed his education in veterinary science at
Kerala Agricultural University, has held for the past seven years– he
has already chalked up some of the organization’s greatest victories.
This includes getting the live embalming of calves banned in
veterinary education; encouraging the central Department of
Animal Husbandry to issue a circular to animal husbandry
directors in all states and union territories stating that cattle must be
given anesthetics prior to castration; stopping illegal bullock cart
races in which the animals are commonly hit with nail-studded
sticks; replacing the bullocks who hauled heavy kerosene oil
carts through Mumbai streets with motorized
transport; rescuing several once-chained elephants from lives of
loneliness in temples; removing numerous lame and injured horses
from the abusive Victoria carriage trade and much more.
• Dr Manilal Valliyate, former co-opted member of the Animal Welfare
Board of India, which operates under the Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change, and present member of the Kerala State Animal
Welfare Board.
 TAMIL NADU
Anjali Sharma

Anjali Sharma, who is endearingly called the “dog lady”. A

native of Delhi, Anjali came to Chennai over 23 years ago
for work. A resident of Harrington Road then, she had seen
several abandoned dogs die for want of a home and a shelter.
Her home serves as an animal shelter, where around 100
dogs are currently kept. These dogs picked up from the
roads. They also include puppies and dogs that are lost and
injured. Since then, feeding her domesticated dogs as well as
the strays became the priority of her life. The Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) helps her
accomplish this task.

• Anjali quit her job, rented a huge house in Red Hills and set up The Animal
Society of Chennai in an enormous portion of the house.
• She takes care of approximately 100 dogs and disabled animals.
 ANDHRA PRADESH

ZABI KHAN
World Records India has named Zabi Khan as the
youngest animal rights activist. He has rehabilitated
and re-homed over 3000 animals and provided
services like animal adoption, rehabilitation,
retraining, medical assistance to the injured animals,
rescued abused animals from pathetic conditions,
created awareness in schools, college and sent food to
animals affected by natural calamities and it is this
commendable service towards voiceless that has made
him the youngest animal rights activist.
• He runs 'A Place to Bark' a registered NGO and a Shelter for
abused or abandoned animals.
• He actively conducts online and offline drives in order to encourage
people to adopt rescued animals, especially native breeds, and educates
them to ensure that they take care of their pets when they need them the
most.