Pune, 19 March 2026: Karma Foundation, a Pune-based charitable trust providing veterinary care for animals in need, has launched its ‘Rescue to Return’ platform, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to rescue injured community animals, provide them with medical treatment and rehabilitation, and safely return them to their original territories after recovery. The platform aims to address a key challenge in urban animal welfare: overcrowded shelters, by ensuring that animals receive timely care and are reintegrated into their familiar environments wherever medically possible.
Through the Rescue to Return platform, animals that are injured, sick, or in distress are brought to the organisation’s clinic, where veterinarians conduct a detailed medical assessment. Animals then receive appropriate treatment, which may include surgeries, medication, wound care, and nutritional support, before being prepared for reintegration into their communities.
A key feature of the platform is the integration of preventive care and population management measures. As part of the process, rescued animals are included in sterilisation programmes, administered anti-rabies vaccinations, and microchipped for identification. Trauma patients undergoing treatment are sterilised, vaccinated against rabies, and microchipped before being released back into their territory wherever medically feasible.
Commenting on the launch, Priya Kailad, Founder and President of Karma Foundation, said, “All animals deserve timely medical care and the opportunity to recover in a safe environment. Through the Rescue to Return platform, our goal is to ensure that injured community animals receive the treatment they need while allowing them to return to the territories where they naturally belong. This approach enables us to support more animals while also contributing to responsible population management and public health efforts.”
The platform is currently being implemented through the foundation’s rescue and animal care operations in Pune, where teams respond to cases involving injured street dogs, cats, and other animals in distress. Through its clinic and rescue initiatives, the organisation has treated, sterilised, vaccinated, and rehabilitated thousands of animals, enabling them to safely return to their environments rather than occupying limited shelter capacity.
Rescue to Return platform has been designed as a scalable framework for humane animal care, combining rescue response, medical treatment, sterilisation, vaccination, and responsible reintegration of community animals into their territories.
Looking ahead, the foundation plans to further strengthen the platform by expanding medical infrastructure, increasing rescue response capabilities across more areas, and scaling up sterilisation programmes for stray dogs. It also aims to expand anti-rabies vaccination coverage, strengthen microchipping systems, collaborate with veterinary professionals and institutions, and conduct awareness initiatives to promote responsible coexistence with community animals.
About Karma Foundation
Karma Foundation is a Pune-based charitable trust working towards the welfare and medical care of stray and community animals. The organisation was incepted on 12 January 2018 with the objective of providing ethical, accessible, and advanced veterinary treatment to animals in need.
The foundation operates a 14,000 sq. ft. animal healthcare facility in Pune, designed to function on the lines of a human hospital. The centre includes an in-house pathology laboratory, Intensive Care Unit, operation theatre, recovery wards, and an outpatient department. It has the capacity to provide inpatient care to up to 150 cats and dogs and outpatient services to around 300 animals per month.
Karma Foundation provides a wide range of veterinary services, including emergency trauma care, diagnostics, surgeries, sterilisation, vaccinations, and post-treatment rehabilitation. Its work combines immediate medical intervention with preventive healthcare to address long-term animal welfare challenges.
Since inception, the foundation has saved over 21,778 animals, sterilised 24,308, vaccinated 46,086, performed 12,311 surgeries, and treated 6,009 animals through its community clinic. The organisation is supported by a team of over 40 members, including six full-time veterinarians and surgeons, along with trained caregivers and visiting specialists who ensure continuous care and emergency response.
Karma Foundation’s mission is to make Pune a rabies-free city through sustained sterilisation and vaccination programmes, while gradually expanding into rural India with smaller units focused on education and basic animal healthcare. Its long-term vision is to create a more humane and structured ecosystem for animal welfare through medical care, awareness, and community engagement.
