Mumbai: India’s first collaborative animal welfare funding circle was launched at the India Animal Welfare Forum (IAWF) in Mumbai on Saturday.
Seed Funding
The project has been backed by an initial Rs 14 crore from Upadhyaya Foundation, India Animal Fund, Caring Friends, Mela Foundation, and Coefficient Giving. The forum hopes to address long-standing funding gaps in the animal welfare sector, which receives just 1.5% of India’s CSR funding.
The national convening brought together policymakers, philanthropists, NGOs, researchers, legal experts, sector leaders, and conservation leaders to deliberate on challenges facing animal welfare in India, such as underfunding, policy implementation gaps, and the need for coordinated, policy-aligned action to position animal welfare as a development priority.
Collaboration Push
Spearheaded by Upadhyaya Foundation, the forum facilitated cross-sector collaboration and dialogue, positioning animal welfare not as a peripheral charitable cause but as a critical development and policy priority intrinsically linked to public health, climate resilience, livelihoods, and urban resilience. The funding circle will function as a collaborative platform to channel philanthropic capital towards scalable, evidence-based animal welfare initiatives, with a focus on long-term impact, accountability, and systemic change across regions and species.
The meeting also marked the launch of a first-of-its-kind Snake Conservation Coalition in the Western Ghats, bringing funders, researchers, herpetologists, conservation specialists, venom experts, and not-for-profits onto a shared platform to advance snake conservation, an often overlooked and underfunded area within the animal welfare and conservation ecosystem.
The meeting discussed issues addressing the need for India to have philanthropic boldness that can aid animal welfare measures, building an animal welfare narrative, and the Supreme Court street dogs case. The discussions examined the intersection of law, on-ground research, public safety, and animal welfare, particularly in urban India, involving People for Animals Public Policy Foundation, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), India Animal Fund, Caring Friends, Ashraya Hastha Trust, and other animal welfare groups.
Foundation’s Role
Speaking about the forum, Brinda Upadhyaya, co-founder of Upadhyaya Foundation, said that the Indian Animal Welfare Forum was an attempt to highlight animal welfare as a key issue in philanthropy and community service. "Animals play a vital role in human life, and their conservation and wellbeing are important for public health and environmental sustenance. Despite this, their needs and rights have been ignored and their suffering largely unaddressed.
At this forum, we tried to provide a coordinated ecosystem to ensure the wellbeing of animals across all spectrums; She said the forum aimed at bridging gaps in strategic funding by encouraging philanthropic support for groups working hard towards the cause," said Upadhyaya.
The Upadhyaya Foundation works to strengthen India’s animal welfare, disability inclusion, and arts ecosystems through long-term, trust-based partnerships.
Sector Views
Sethu Vaidyanathan, an entrepreneur and an animal welfare advocate, said that a forum like this is vital because it brings together diverse voices working toward a shared goal: improving the lives of animals. “It creates space to share knowledge, align strategies, and build partnerships that can lead to more effective, coordinated action. By learning from one another, the sector can adapt, innovate, and have a greater collective impact," said Vaidyanathan.
Additional sessions focused on coalition-led approaches to conservation, the role of collaboration versus independent action in driving impact, the use of technology and AI in animal welfare, and shifting public narratives around farmed animals through advocacy. The forum concluded with a shared recognition that long-term capital, coordinated action, and policy-aligned approaches are essential to addressing India’s growing animal welfare challenges in an increasingly urbanised and climate-sensitive landscape.
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