March 2025: 2025 animal welfare grants & more AKI news
- Animal-Kind International
- Apr 3
- 5 min read
Kindness to Animals has no Boundaries
March 2025
Dear Animal-Kind Friends,
AKI's 2025 Animal Welfare Grants
Our 2024 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program is still in progress with Blind Love (South Africa) and Welfare for Animals Guild (WAG)-Rwanda set to complete their grant projects by April 1. Two of our ten 2024 grantees, SPCA-Grahamstown (South Africa) and Tanzania Small Animal Veterinary Organization (TASAVO), are continuing their grant projects, having both received “top-up” grants from our kind donors.
BUT! We’re already planning our 2025 animal welfare grants and we’re really excited to announce that it will include a PILOT GRANT PROGRAM FOR LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS! The pilot program will be by invitation to LAC region organizations only. The eligibility requirements will be similar to our requirements for Africa’s AWOs, available here. If you are interested and think you qualify, get in touch.
We’re grateful to have a new volunteer to help with this expansion, who is from the LAC region and very knowledgeable of the animal welfare organizations and situations there (and becoming more knowledgeable daily!)
TASAVO’s “top-up” grant couldn’t have come at a better time! A plan by the University of Dar es Salaam to shoot roaming dogs and cats on campus was scuttled when the newly created (by TASAVO under the AKI grant) University Animal Welfare Club notified TASAVO and other animal welfare advocates. The result: Instead of shooting strays, TASAVO will now be responsible for humane control of the stray populations on the Dar es Salaam campus. The bulk of our top-up grant to TASAVO will be used for this purpose. We expect they’ll need even more funding to reach all roaming animals and to continue humane control. This will be so important to demonstrate that humane population control works and it works better than shooting and poisons!
AKI Blog: March Updates
This Blog post is about Kingston Community Animal Welfare-Jamaica and their recent rescue work. Daily, KCAW drives around Kingston, delivering food and feeding cats and dogs living on the street, and almost every day, KCAW adds more animals to their feeding rounds. Read HERE about their work and why we’re trying so hard to raise funds so KCAW can buy a SPAY MOBILE.
We needed two AKI Blog posts to cover the recent work of our Partner, the 6 Freedoms-Ghana (@thesixfreedoms). This one is about 6F’s Horse Care Teams’ visits to horse stables where they provide help for horses and advice and training to caretakers. Based on what they found at the stables they’ve visited, 6F has added farrier services and nutrition supplements. 6F’s work has attracted others, including this group of vet students, taking samples from horses and caretakers to see if there’s transmission of parasites between the two. Although they are vet students, they were astounded by the lack of care and the conditions at some of the stables.
The Six Freedoms-Ghana & a Story of Horse Rescue - this article describes the complexities of horse rescue in Ghana. Without adequate animal welfare legislation, the 6 Freedoms relies on creating relationships, educating and raising awareness, and providing useful services for horses and their caretakers and owners. It’s also the story of a neglected white stallion.
Little Paws Big Hearts: Dog Houses for Township Dogs in South Africa - Our 7th 2024 grantee to complete their grant project, Inja eKhaya, which means, "Dog in the Home"), Little Paws Big Hearts provided beautiful dog houses trained indigent and unemployed residents to start artisanal dog house building businesses in townships around Secunda, South Africa.
Sweet Stories from 2 of our Partners
Now more than ever, we need heartwarming, uplifting stories and what better way to feel uplifted than by sweet animal stories?
From Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society: Aloysius participated in the AKI-funded LAWCS Humane Education Program, where he developed a strong love and compassion for animals, which he hadn’t been exposed to elsewhere. Aloysius and his dog Good Friend are now best of friends, and Aloysius isn’t shy about spreading the info he learned in Humane Ed class to others. That way, the LAWCS Humane Ed Program has impacts far beyond the 1000s of school children reached directly every year!
From Twala Trust-Zimbabwe: This is Spot. He's only 7 months old but has had a very difficult start to his life. He came to Twala Trust with parvovirus and severe malnutrition. He has a very bad case of rickets, which damaged all the ligaments in his paws. Lucky for Spot that his family brought him to Twala just in time! He's in for a long rehabilitation at the sanctuary. With good food, calcium supplements, gentle exercise, and lots of love, plus lifetime care from Doggy Tuesday once he returns home (and AKI-funded Doggy Tuesday food!), we hope he will live the long and happy life this sweet dog deserves.
Good News from AKI Partner South Sudan SPCA
After years of planning and “on again/off again” notices, the South Sudan SPCA’s spay/neuter campaign is becoming a reality. There was Covid, unrest and violence, changes in government, all of which affected the plans for our s/n campaign. One of the positive things to come out of the chaos is that two South Sudanese members of our virtual s/n team formed the first local animal welfare organization, the South Sudan Society for the Protection & Care of Animals.
For the last few weeks (and continuing until plans are finalized), we’ve been having weekly Zoom meetings, which include local vets and the Kenya SPCA. Kenya SPCA will provide experts to help the SSSPCA in their 1st s/n campaign, and bring some of the needed supplies.
You may have heard that there’s threats of more violence in South Sudan. Let’s hope that peaceful times prevail in South Sudan and we can finally kick-off this important event!
We continue to feel the ramifications of the almost 100% cut in the United States’ foreign aid program. Expats are leaving the countries where they work and animal welfare organizations are losing their financial and volunteer support. Many people have lost their jobs, and many of those people are Animal-Kind International supporters. Several have told us they are unable to continue donating until (and if) they find new jobs.
If you are a monthly donor, did you receive your end-of-year (2024) monthly donor message?
Have you read our 2024 Annual Report?
As always, we are so grateful for your kind support, and during these times of extreme uncertainty, we are humbled by your generosity and kind words,
Karen Menczer, Founder/Director
& the Animal-Kind International Board
Our Partner Organizationswork in Uganda, Namibia, DR Congo, Ghana, South Sudan, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Honduras, and Jamaica. You can donate to AKI’s general fund or designate your donation to one or more of our Partner Organizations.
Our 2024 (7th annual) Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program grantees work in: Kenya (2 grantees), Tanzania (2 grantees), South Africa (4 grantees), Rwanda, and Israel.
AKI: Since 2007, helping animals and the people who care for them in some of the poorest countries.
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; donations to AKI are tax deductible in the US to the extent the law allows. 100% of your donations are used to support our Partner Organizations & our Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program.