Must love dogs

Every morning at dawn, Nashir Khan wakes up to the ruckus of dogs he shelters at his home in Chobhar, all hankering to be fed.

As he goes about his day, providing meals for countless community dogs across Kathmandu, he will likely make some ruckus of his own, outraged by those who mistreat the animals.

Khan’s dedication to the wellbeing of Kathmandu’s dogs spans many years, administering medicine, taking them to the vet, advocacy through radio, and confrontation with those abusing dogs.

Khan has been engaged in charity work most of his life, beginning at age 7 carrying food to imprisoned or hospitalised members of his community.

“I don’t think about what I might gain. I don’t even like the word ‘gain’,” he tells us.

He was drawn to the plight of dogs after he started caring for a dog a neighbour had neglected. That was where his lifelong commitment to dog care began.

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“More than people, dogs have many hardships,” he explains. “I needed to help them.”

Although city residents are increasingly accommodating of pets, the same affection is not afforded to street dogs who face much mistreatment and neglect, including from local governments which have used poison to control the stray population.

However, the growth of dog-care organisations and social media attention has promoted more humane methods like neutering. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City funded Manumitra project began in 2016, focusing on community awareness and population control.

While official records indicate declining numbers and healthier dogs, animal organisations are skeptical.

Sneha Shrestha of the Federation for Animal Welfare Nepal, says that the street dog population exceeds 100,000. “On World Rabies Day there are programs publicising vaccination of 40 or 50 dogs, but after that there is very little done,” adds Shrestha who works with a network of street dog organisations.

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Despite increased advocacy and awareness, the perception of menacing, unclean creatures persists. Between 2022-23 the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division reported 106,993 dog bites, the majority in Kathmandu.

To mitigate the risk of diseases such as rabies, organisations working in dog welfare and veterinary services must shoulder the cost of vaccines themselves.

Khan was previously involved with animal hospital projects and street dog programs, and has since developed mistrust for the organisations, believing their primary goals are recognition and financial gain. Khan’s work is entirely self-funded, as he patrols the city in a motorbike that serves as a dog ambulance.

But he often faces public opposition, and he has been beaten up, once the injuries kept him in bed for more than two weeks. Angry locals challenged his care of dogs when there were so many people in need of help.

Still, he remains unfazed, claiming: “When they curse at me I either laugh or just ignore it.”

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Encountering canine abuse has spurred Khan into aggression himself. Recently, when a cyclist ran over a dog sleeping on the road, the initial verbal confrontation escalated into Khan threatening the man with a hacksaw. “I just cannot watch dogs being harmed,” he says.

Independent filmmaker Shyam Karki is producing a documentary on Khan titled ‘Unholy Love’. The filmmaker first met Khan in 2015 while he was feeding dogs on the streets of Chhetrapati.

The documentary explores how a part of the reason for Khan’s ostracisation is that he is a Muslim.

“In other countries Muslims are very strict about don’t do this and don’t do that, but whether I go to heaven or hell is of little relevance to me,” says Khan who is married to a Hindu Newar person.

Both faced social exclusion from their communities because of their marriage, but Khan credits his wife for transforming his wayward ways into passion for social work.

Lately, Khan has added collective mobilisation to his work, decrying injustices on Facebook and uniting the efforts of other street dog carers. With or without support, his work continues.

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