Ben Fogle backs British vet running 600km across Sri Lanka to save three million street dogs
Exhausted, blistered and fighting back tears, Dr Janey Lowes has completed 267km of her gruelling charity run, raising £63,680 to help suffering street dogs
Exhausted, blistered and fighting back tears, Dr Janey Lowes has completed 267km of her gruelling charity run, raising £63,680 to help save Sri Lanka's suffering street dogs.
British adventurer and broadcaster Ben Fogle has praised the extraordinary determination of Dr Janey Lowes, the veterinary surgeon whose remarkable life in Sri Lanka featured on his Channel 5 series Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild.
Janey's story reached an international audience when she appeared on the programme, which has aired in more than 32 countries to an audience of over 20 million people.
Now the British vet, who has dedicated more than a decade to saving Sri Lanka's abandoned, injured and desperately sick street dogs, is taking on her greatest personal challenge yet: running 600km across the country to raise funds for a new veterinary hospital and training centre. The new centre will allow the WECare team to treat 3,000 more animals per year than their current crumbling and overstretched facility allows. Presently, they’re having to turn away severely sick and injured animals daily as they’re constantly full to capacity.
Having already completed 267km and raised £63,680, Janey is approaching the halfway point of her gruelling 22-stage Dog Jog, with another 333km still ahead of her.
And Ben Fogle, now a Patron of WECare who witnessed her extraordinary commitment to animal welfare first-hand, has paid tribute to her determination.
Ben Fogle said:
“I am in awe of Janey Lowes. Not just the incredible charity, WECare, that she runs in Sri Lanka but the fact that she now plans to RUN the whole of Sri Lanka. With an estimated 3 million street dogs, the work that Janey does cannot be underestimated. She is making a real difference. This is a massive undertaking for Janey but knowing her as I do, she will rise to the challenge and smash it”
For Janey, the challenge is about far more than physical endurance. Every kilometre represents the animals she has devoted her life to saving.
Across Sri Lanka, an estimated three million dogs live on the streets. Many suffer from untreated injuries, disease, starvation and neglect. Some are struck by vehicles and left at the roadside. Others endure terrible wounds and infections without access to veterinary treatment.
For thousands of these animals, WECare Worldwide represents their only chance of survival.
Originally from Barnard Castle in County Durham, Janey travelled to Sri Lanka in 2014 and witnessed the suffering of street dogs first-hand.
What was meant to be a backpacking trip changed the course of her life.
Rather than return to Britain and resume her veterinary career, she made the extraordinary decision to stay and help.
Armed with her veterinary training, determination and compassion, she began treating animals that had been left to suffer.
What started with one young vet trying to make a difference has grown into WECare Worldwide, a charity providing veterinary treatment, rehabilitation and care to some of the country's most vulnerable animals.
More than a decade later, Janey is still fighting for them.
But this time, she's putting her own body through an extraordinary ordeal to raise the funds needed to build a new veterinary hospital and training centre, with an ambitious fundraising target of US$2 million.
At stage 11 of 22, Janey has completed 267km, with another 333km to go.
The physical and emotional toll of the challenge is immense. Yet the thought of the animals still waiting for treatment is what drives her forward.
Janey said:
“I'm absolutely exhausted. My legs are aching, my feet are covered in blisters and there have been moments when I've genuinely wondered how I'm going to take another step. I've cried from sheer exhaustion, and there are still 333 kilometres to go.
“But then I think about the dogs. The ones we've found lying at the side of the road, too weak to stand. The puppies crying for their mothers. The animals in terrible pain who have nobody coming to help them. I've held dogs in my arms as they've taken their last breath, knowing that with the right treatment, some of them might have survived.
“That's what keeps me going. I can stop running when I'm tired. I can rest, eat something and have a drink of water. Those dogs don't get that choice. Their suffering doesn't stop because I'm exhausted.
“I know £2 million sounds like an impossible amount of money, but I've seen what happens when people care enough to help. Every donation, however small, means someone believes these animals deserve a chance.
“I don't know how I'm going to get through the next 333 kilometres. All I know is that I have to try. Because somewhere out there tonight, there's a dog lying injured, frightened and alone, and I desperately want us to be able to reach it before it's too late.”
The proposed hospital and training centre would allow WECare Worldwide to treat more injured and sick animals, expand its veterinary services and help train the next generation of veterinary professionals.
For a country facing an enormous street dog welfare crisis, the facility could transform the lives of countless animals for years to come.
And while Janey has already raised £63,680, there is still a considerable distance to cover, physically and financially.
Her remarkable challenge has already attracted support from people moved by her determination to help animals that cannot ask for help themselves.
Ben Fogle's endorsement is a reminder of the impact one woman can make when she refuses to turn away from suffering.
Janey may be running 600km across Sri Lanka, but the real race is against the pain, disease and neglect endured by animals who have no voice.
For Janey, reaching the finish line will be an extraordinary personal achievement. And the real victory will come when another injured dog receives treatment, another abandoned puppy survives and another animal is given the chance of a life without suffering.
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