Sept 2025: Animal-Kind International partners & grantees are helping animals worldwide
- Animal-Kind International
- Oct 9
- 5 min read
Kindness to Animals Has No Boundaries
AKI News: September 2025
Did you know that through the AKI website, you can donate to any of our 13 Animal Welfare Organization grant recipients during the 2025-2026 season—just as you can for our Partner Organizations? The only difference is that our Grantees receive donations for the grant-year, while our Partner Organizations receive ongoing support year after year so that they can focus on what’s important—the welfare and care of animals. As Sauvons nos Animaux’s director, Paterne, explained, “We express our gratitude to Animal-Kind International thanks to which vets can step in at any time and in every rescue, without having to wait for a donation collection like in the past. Thank you all so much!” (see more from SnA below).
Animal-Kind International Partner Updates from the AKI Blog
We posted these AKI Blog articles in September with details of our work and how your donations to AKI are being spent in Zimbabwe (Twala Trust), Namibia (Have a Heart), and Uganda (Bam Animal Clinics):
Animal-Kind International & Our Partner Twala Trust-Zimbabwe: When you're so tiny, like Panda is (above) that even the littlest pajamas are too big, you have to rely on good-hearted people and thankfully there’s Twala Trust! Panda is wintering at Twala having survived parvovirus. When he's bigger and stronger he will return home, and Twala will continue to care for him through their Doggy Tuesday program. From Sarah (Twala trustee), "We are so grateful for the support of Animal-Kind International in giving dogs like Panda the life they deserve."
Bam Animal Clinics-Uganda: donkey welfare, August 2025: Here’s an update from our Partner Bam about their donkey welfare clinics in the Elgon region of Uganda, where they provide vet care for donkeys and training for owners on humane handling, humane saddle making (above), and basic donkey health care—entirely supported by Animal-Kind International contributions.
AKI-HaH Namibia Emergency Fund Update (Sept 2025): From January through June, the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund helped 18 dogs and 8 cats get much-needed vet care. Sixteen cats and 348 dogs benefited from HaH's Lifetime Care Program, also funded by AKI (boosters, parasite treatment, and food).
Brief updates from some of our other Partners…
The Six Freedoms-Ghana - You responded to our plea in last month’s newsletter, making it possible for us to send AKI Partner, the 6 Freedoms, the 1st disbursement from the Horse Rescue Fund! Now that 6F rescued Arrowboy (and soon, thanks to the Rescue Fund, a 2nd horse), they are building a stable on the Langma land to shelter 2 horses. 6F’s long-time volunteer groom Eddie and Eva are training a new groom who will oversee the property and watch over the horses.
Uganda SPCA - Now that we have approval from National Environmental Management Authority, the USPCA has moved more dogs to the new shelter—lucky dogs (above), where they have lots of room to run and play and rest and be dogs. To continue construction at the site (catteries are still to be built, as well as more dog kennels, and eventually, other infrastructure), and now that the NEMA certificate is in hand, we need planning permission from the Town Council. We’ve waited so long, and while we’re not entirely moved out of the old Haven, slowly, slowly, polepole, polepole, as we say, we’ll get there. The USPCA uses AKI funding for dog and cat food, staff salaries, transportation, utilities at the shelter, medicines and shelter supplies, and more.
Sauvons nos Animaux in the Democratic Republic of Congo: There are signs that life is VERY SLOWLY returning to normal in eastern DRC. Mugisho is a young volunteer, who was unable to visit the SnA shelter during the past many months of conflict. He’s very brave and deeply passionate about animals and was one of the 1st volunteers to return to the shelter, where he’s helping the staff with tasks such as socializing the cats and dogs (above).
On August 17, Paterne tried to restart the Sunday jog with the dogs in downtown Bukavu. Unfortunately, only two people showed up, Paterne and a little boy (photo above). With an M23 military post close to the meeting place, most people were still too scared to participate. By August 24, the situation had incrementally improved and 12 people and their dogs showed up (below). While this is far from what it once was—I was there and saw >100 dogs participate in Sunday jogging day in Bukavu—it’s a comforting sign that more positive news is in store.
Despite the panic and fear, the SnA vets are still on the job! Two days ago, they examined a recently rescued dog and found that his eye couldn’t be saved and proceeded to ablation. The surgery was successful and the animal is doing well. For our Partner Sauvons nos Animaux, we raise money for a Pet Food Fund to ensure the ~100 shelter animals will always get plentiful, healthy meals, for staff salaries, infrastructure improvements, shelter supplies, and whatever other animal welfare priorities SnA has.
Helping Hands for Hounds of Honduras: We continue to provide funds for dog and cat food and medicines for the HHHH “old folks home” as we help HHHH director Pilar research, work with, and evaluate next steps and the transition from HHHH as a Partner to….something new, something that will ensure we’re helping the most vulnerable animals in Honduras…..something TBD and once it is, we will announce it here!
South Sudan SPCA: Weekly, we meet virtually with SSPCA and a few others who have been involved in organizing the SSSPCA spay/neuter campaign. We’re sometimes joined by local vets, Kenya SPCA, and others as we navigate the government requirements and intricacies of holding a MASS s/n campaign in Juba.
Do you have a preference for a particular AKI grantee? Maybe you have a soft spot for donkeys (check out Animal Welfare Society of Cameroon, INADES in Kenya, Blind Love in South Africa, and Starting Over in Israel); or you may be particularly partial to kitties (see Vida de Gatos in Chile and Triglav Trust in Namibia); do you feel spay/neuter in under-served communities and for animals living on the street is the way to go (see TASAVO-Tanzania, SPCA Grahamstown, Sterilization Center in Ecuador, Amor y Abrigo in Honduras, Huellas de Amor in Colombia); if you believe that training the next generation of vets and paravets in humane handling and rescue work is the best use of animal welfare funding, then see Animal Smile Tanzania; and if you want to help animals in one of the most dangerous places on earth where we’re supporting the only animal shelter, Fondation Alliance Verte in Port au Prince, Haiti, see this video of their AKI Grant Project:
Thank you SO much for your kind support.
You make all of this—and more—possible.
Gratefully yours,
Karen Menczer, Founder/Director
& the Animal-Kind International Board
Our Partner Organizations work 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 2025 (8th annual) Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program grantees work in: Kenya, Tanzania (2 grantees), South Africa (2 grantees), Cameroon, Namibia, Israel, Haiti, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, and Chile.
AKI: Since 2007, helping animals and the people who care for them in resource-poor areas.
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 Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program.
