Marwar Animal Protection Trust : The People

Centre Manager: Mr. Bishan Shukla (pictured at left) has a wide-ranging set of responsibilities from buying dog collars to handling the accounting to meeting with local officials. His diligence ensures that all dogs are properly fed and watered during their stay at the Centre. As a retired Squadron Leader, working in the accounts and administration department of the Indian Air Force, Bishan brings military planning to the project as well as a wealth of experience working as a Project Director on numerous projects through Rajasthan! Bishan is a dog lover without a dog. His Labrador died after 12 years' company.

Veterinary Surgeons: Dr. Subhash Kuchhawaha, Dr. Mahesh Kumar, and Dr. Nitesh Gaur lead the dog sterilization and vaccination program. Dr. Kuchhawaha is responsible for all ongoing training of the surgeons and veterinary assistants. The program envisions neutering and vaccinating 10,000 dogs a year, over a five year period.

Veterinary Assistants: Sukhdev, Jugal Kishore, Nenu Ram and Vishnu are our veterinary assistants. They contribute to the Project in a variety of ways, from charting animal histories and medical records to tagging captured dogs, providing specialized nursing care or assistance with surgical procedures. Once treated, they also supervise and care for the dogs until they are returned to their capture site. All the Veterinary Assistants are from Jodhpur and are provided with ongoing training by the Marwar Trust.

Education Program Officer: Dr. Kalpana Shukla will lead the educational component of the Project. As a general practice Doctor, Dr. Kalpana Shukla has been providing support to the local community for over twenty years. The project will undertake a rabies prevention and education campaign across Jodhpur's 166 public and private schools.

Public Education: Rakesh Sharma handles the public relations, educating the local residents about the project's aims. He also supervisors the dog catching to ensure that they are caught humanely and released at the same place from where they were caught.

Evaluator: Dr. Alexander Wandeler is the Project's scientific advisor responsible for gathering the epidemiological data required for planning, organizing and monitoring of implementation of the rabies control program. Dr. Wandeler is the Director of the WHO Collaborative Centre in Ottawa, Canada, as well as the Leader of the Centre of Expertise for Rabies, for the Government of Canada.

Working under Dr. Wandeler, is Dr. Sarah Totton. Dr. Totton is currently completing a Ph.D. in veterinary epidemiology having qualified as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with further degrees in Zoology and Biology. Dr. Totton will provide diagnostic training to the project team. In addition to being able to handle live foxes, skunks and raccoons, Dr. Totton is a published fiction writer.