A Successful Policy Change for Farmed Animals in Nepal! 🎉
Only 6 months after the launch of Nepal Fellowship 2024, the team has already succeeded in passing a new animal welfare policy, and we’re on our way to creating more impact!
Nepal Fellowship Program 2024
Every day, around 450 buffaloes are forced to go through a horrible journey that causes them painful suffering. This is a daily routine carried out to meet the demand for meat consumption in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.
After thorough research, I and the team have identified gaps in the current legal system that reinforce the inhumane practices of buffalo transportation. We’re determined to change it by targeting a policy change at the local government levels, strategically focusing on a few key municipalities where hundreds of animal-loaded vehicles pass through.
Policy drafting session at Nepal Fellowship Program 2024
With the goal of reducing suffering in animal transportation, our fellowship program is organized to provide training for fellows from diverse backgrounds with different skill sets to drive policy change in our own country.
The details of the Nepal Fellowship Program 2024 can be read in Nepali here.
The Magnitude of This Victory
Reducing the suffering of at least 700 buffaloes every month
The new policy passed by Ratnanagar Municipality reads that “The current animal transportation standards in Nepal will be enforced to prevent cruelty to animals during transportation”. This will affect the more than 700 buffaloes who are transported each month in inhumane conditions through Ratnanagar, from the eastern side of Nepal to then be slaughtered in Kathmandu.
Monitoring and enforcing the law
We’ll be able to monitor how the animals are being transported and help with the effective execution of Animal Transportation Standards (2008). This will also allow us to monitor the welfare of other farmed animals, like goats, chickens, pigs, cows, fish, etc., during the transportation.
Recording data
We’ll be able to record more data (e.g., the number of animals being imported, exported, or passed through), which is very needed in our movement.
“This recently passed policy is possibly the first ever policy in the local level government of Nepal considering the issue of animal welfare during transportation, but we are also working to make sure that it will also be the policy that actually gets executed and makes an impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of farmed animals annually, no matter how long it takes.”
Marking an important milestone for the animal justice movement in Nepal
This successful policy change in Ratnanagar Municipality means that in a country with a population of 29,142,480 people, around 89,905 people in Ratnanagar Municipality (accounting for 0.31% of the of the population of Nepal) legally acknowledge that they need to step up in order to address the issue of inhumane transportation of animals. This has set a new precedent in Nepal: animal welfare is no longer a neglected issue and should be addressed by every local government.
Next Steps..
Thanks to this achievement, we will now continue lobbying at another local level while also monitoring the implementations.
This attempt at policy change has led us to open the door towards establishing connections with bureaucrats and council members. We’re looking forward to maintain our collaborative work for the animals.
Submitting the draft of the policy to the Council Member of Ratnanagar Municipality
Collaborative Efforts and Local Leadership
We’d like to give a shout-out to the local community that has dedicated their time and worked tirelessly to make this happen. This includes our fellows, volunteers, and fellowship mentors. We also highly appreciate the cooperation from government officers and council members at Ratnanagar Municipality to help us create a kinder world for the animals in Nepal.
