Hello, my name is Asvin and this fundraiser was created on behalf of Tails of Freedom (ToF), an animal rescue based in Sri Lanka. ToF is a registered charity dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming of purebred companion animals in Sri Lanka, found abandoned or removed from situations of extreme cruelty.

Sri Lanka has a large population of street dogs and cats and had many organizations that specialize in working with them. However, Tails of Freedom was established in response to a sharp increase in the number of purebred dogs found abandoned, or trapped in unending cycles of cruelty, neglect, and backyard breeding. A decade or so ago Sri Lanka had fewer pure breed dogs and breeding was largely limited to a small group of individuals across the island. However, dogs are now supplied according to demand and based on the whims and fancies of anyone, with no consideration given to the cost or effort required to care for the dogs once purchased.

Additionally, COVID lockdowns followed by the country reeling from an economic crisis has left many pet owners unable to care for their pets and many backyard breeders unable to sustain the animals under their care. Many of these animals have ended up on the streets or sick and surrendered. Unlike our local breed of companion animals who are smart, streetwise, and tough, breeds have a harder time on the streets and need to be rescued immediately if they have any hope of surviving. For this reason, ToF rescues smaller numbers of animals quicker. However their rehabilitation is often far more expensive due to bad breeding and years of neglect by their original owners.

Additionally, ToF works on bring in policy related to breeding and welfare, which is a completely unregulated industry in Sri Lanka, a country which also lacks adequate animal welfare policy to protect these animals from exploitation and cruelty.

As most rescues come in extremely poor condition, requiring critical care and surgeries, ToF is often overwhelmed moving from one case to another rapidly. The current COVID lockdowns coupled with a devastating economic crisis has led to a massive increase of animals needing rescue while funding, which was mostly Sri Lankan based, has decreased.

For this reason, the organisation often finds itself behind on veterinary bill payments, and often in a reactive state, having to do urgent call outs for every rescue. This is not a sustainable situation, and this fundraiser aims to change that by supporting the organisation to raise and stay ahead of bill payments and other operational costs.

Any donation, small, large, one-time, or regular would make a massive difference to the organisation, ensuring that the animals are rescued, rehabilitated and find their way to loving homes, whilst also allowing the team the mental and financial space to streamline operations and function more efficiently.

Some ways funds would be used include:

• Veterinary bill payments

• Rescue transport related bills

• Dog and cat food + supplements

• Payment of essential staff (currently the entire team is made up of volunteers but this needs to change)