FIAPO

FIAPO Network. Advocate. Love

Uniting India for Animals

Legal Support | Capacity Building | Policy Reform | Evidence Based Movement

As a collective voice for the animal protection community in India, FIAPO unites all animal protection organisations nationwide to exchange ideas, build expertise, and strengthen the country’s animal protection movement. FIAPO works with over 192+ member organizations and over 1700+ activists in more than 90 cities across India. FIAPO is the largest Federation in the country and one of the largest movement-building organisations in the world.

21/05/2026

You’ve been fooled every day. The happy cows on dairy packaging DO NOT EXIST. They are a carefully curated story designed to make something deeply uncomfortable feel completely normal.

Let’s call out one of the most normalised manipulations of our time. DAIRY.

Behind every happy image is an industry built on repeated, forced impregnation, separation of calves, and lives spent in confinement. One honest look at how milk is produced is enough to unsettle everything we have been taught to associate with it.

India’s dairy industry depends on over 30 crore bovines, and not one of them is happy, perfect, or free.

Let’s fight this cognitive dissonance.
Let’s do away with this culture of ‘looking away’.
Let’s force ourselves to look closer. 

To understand the reality of the dairy industry, watch the documentary “Maa Ka Doodh” () on YouTube.



[dairy industry reality, forced impregnation dairy, calf separation, factory farming India, animal agriculture, bovine welfare, ethical food systems, hidden dairy practices, plant based movement India, conscious consumerism, food ethics, humane farming, vegan awareness, sustainability and dairy, dairy documentary India, Maa Ka Doodh documentary]

19/05/2026

19/05/2026

The Supreme Court today pronounced its judgment in the street dogs matter, “In Re: City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price” (Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 5 of 2025).

While we await the detailed written judgment, the Court has upheld the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 and directed strict implementation across the country.

Key directions include:
• Establishment of at least one fully functional ABC Centre in every district
• Expansion of sterilisation and vaccination infrastructure
• Strengthening veterinary services and anti-rabies response systems
• Priority action in high-footfall public spaces
• Continued monitoring by all High Courts through suo motu proceedings titled “In Re: Stray Dogs”

The Court observed that inconsistent implementation by authorities has weakened the effectiveness of the ABC framework and emphasized the need for coordinated, humane, and sustained action.

This judgment reinforces that effective street dog management requires accountability, planning, public health measures, and proper implementation of the law, not reactionary measures.

We will continue sharing updates once the complete judgment is available.

16/05/2026

A buffalo cannot sweat the way a horse or human can. That single fact explains everything about what Kambala costs him.

When humans overheat, 2 to 4 million sweat glands kick in and cool the body down. When a horse sprints, 810 sweat glands fire per square centimetre of skin. He can shed up to 20 litres of sweat in an hour. His body was built for exactly this.

A buffalo's sweat gland density is six times lower than a cow's. He cools down by standing in water or panting slowly in shade. Take those away, put him on a race track, and his body has almost no way to manage the heat building inside it.

So when he sprints those 140 metres, heat accumulates with nowhere to go. His heart rate crosses safe limits. His breathing becomes laboured. His temperature climbs.

The race ends in 12 seconds. His body is still catching up long after.
This is not about fitness or training. A buffalo cannot be trained out of his own biology. What Kambala asks of him is simply something his body was never designed to give.



[Kambala festival, buffalo racing, animal cruelty, coastal Karnataka traditions, Supreme Court Kambala verdict, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, buffalo welfare, animal sentience, cultural practices and ethics, FIAPO, ethical reform, traditional sports in India, animal protection laws, forced racing, regulated animal events, humane treatment of animals, rural festivals, livestock welfare, compassion in culture, Karnataka buffalo races]

15/05/2026

A buffalo’s body was built for slow, sustained work through waterlogged fields. He has six times fewer sweat glands than even a cow. When forced to sprint, heat builds with almost nowhere to go.

This is not sentiment, it is biology. What looks like performance is panic.

Kambala was banned by the Supreme Court in 2014 for causing unnecessary pain and suffering. By 2023, it was back, now “regulated.” But regulation has not removed the bamboo cane. It has not removed the nose rope pulled through sensitive nasal tissue to force compliance. It has not stopped the same buffalo pairs from being raced repeatedly within a single event, or on consecutive days.

At the December 2025 Mangaluru Kambala, one of the largest events of the year, with over 150 buffalo pairs, documentation showed animals being struck, shoved by groups of handlers, and having water forced into their nostrils to manage stress before races. Owners argue the buffaloes are well cared for the rest of the year. That may be true. It doesn’t make the racing days less harmful.

A regulation around cruelty is not the same as an end to it.

This is an investigation into modern day Kambala conducted by Manju N. Gowda and We Animals for FIAPO



[Kambala investigation, buffalo racing cruelty, buffalo physiology, animal stress response, nose rope abuse, bamboo cane, Supreme Court Kambala ban, regulated cruelty, farm animal welfare India, Mangaluru Kambala 2025, We Animals investigation, FIAPO campaign, animal suffering in sports, traditional animal races, buffalo heat stress]

Kambala began as gratitude. After the paddy harvest, farmers in coastal Karnataka raced their buffaloes as an offering t...
14/05/2026

Kambala began as gratitude. After the paddy harvest, farmers in coastal Karnataka raced their buffaloes as an offering to the gods. The winning animal received coconuts and bananas.

What it has become is something else.
Today, Kambala runs across 45 villages from November to March. The Mangaluru event alone features over 150 buffalo pairs, surrounded by advertising, ticket sales, and gambling. Documentation from the 2025 races by journalist Manju N. Gowda, in collaboration with FIAPO and We Animals, recorded buffaloes being raced multiple times in a single event, water poured into their nostrils before races, and handlers using bamboo canes and physical force to move animals after the race.

In 2014, the Supreme Court prohibited Kambala under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. In 2017, the Karnataka government introduced amendments to bring it back. In 2023, the Supreme Court allowed it under a regulated framework.

A buffalo is built for slow work in waterlogged fields. Forcing him to sprint puts enormous strain on a body not designed for speed. Every single race.
Regulation has not addressed what the animal goes through. It has only made it official.

Documentation and investigation by journalist Manju N. Gowda in collaboration with FIAPO and



[Kambala festival, buffalo racing, animal cruelty, coastal Karnataka traditions, Supreme Court Kambala verdict, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, buffalo welfare, animal sentience, cultural practices and ethics, FIAPO, ethical reform, traditional sports in India, animal protection laws, forced racing, regulated animal events, humane treatment of animals, rural festivals, livestock welfare, compassion in culture, Karnataka buffalo races]

12/05/2026

The way we build our cities shapes who gets to survive in them.🐦

As conversations around urban development continue to grow, it is equally important to ask how our spaces impact the birds that move through them every day.

Compassionate infrastructure is possible when awareness, science, policy, and design come together with intention.

BirdConservation

[bird-window collisions, urban planning, compassionate infrastructure, wildlife-friendly architecture, bird-safe buildings, biodiversity conservation, coexistence, urban ecology, sustainable development, humane design, environmental awareness, conservation policy, migratory birds, city ecosystems, ethical infrastructure]

09/05/2026

Every year, migratory birds travel thousands of kilometres to reach India.🦅🦢

From the Arctic, Central Asia, and beyond, they arrive at our wetlands, forests, grasslands, and coastlines with extraordinary precision, often returning to the very same places generation after generation.

That kind of connection to the natural world feels rare now. And deeply worth protecting.
This International Migratory Bird Day, it is encouraging to see more attention being given to how our cities and infrastructure can become safer for birds too. On 12 May, India will host its first national symposium on bird-window collisions, bringing together scientists, architects, policymakers, conservationists, and industry leaders to explore solutions collaboratively.

Because coexistence is not a distant idea. It is something we actively design.

Every wetland restored, every bird-safe building adopted, every habitat protected helps ensure these journeys continue for generations to come.

And there is something beautiful about a world where birds still keep finding their way back to us.



[migratory birds, flyways, wetlands, bird-window collisions, urban ecology, biodiversity conservation, habitat restoration, sustainable infrastructure, bird-safe design, conservation policy, wildlife protection, climate resilience]

08/05/2026

On World Donkey Day, maybe the real question is this:

Why do we mock an animal that has spent centuries carrying some of humanity’s hardest labour? 🫏

“Donkey” is still used as an insult; stubborn, foolish, worthless.

Meanwhile, real donkeys haul bricks through kiln heat, carry construction material across impossible terrain, and work in conditions most people would not survive for a day.

They’ve always supported economies quietly, especially for marginalised communities, while remaining invisible in policy, welfare, and public empathy.

And now, suddenly, they are being rediscovered through commercial value: milk, breeding, skins, industry.

It says something unsettling about us that an animal can serve humans its entire life and still only be noticed once profit enters the picture.

Maybe World Donkey Day is not just about celebrating resilience.

Maybe it is about questioning why dignity is reserved only for the profitable.



[donkey welfare, working animals, equine protection, animal labour, brick kiln animals, marginalised communities, humane treatment, animal dignity, ethical livelihoods, invisible labour, donkey exploitation, compassion, policy gaps, animal advocacy, sustainable welfare]

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