Dear friends, The Hindu Festival of Dashain is now taking place and in Nepal. The beautiful and long festival and holiday includes a slaughter-fest of grand proportions. This year it is estimated that 50,000 extra goats will be brought into the Kathmandu Valley alone for the festival, where people sacrifice goats and other animals as an offering to the Hindu deity Kali. There are so many different events across Nepal, celebrating the holiday in spiritual, community, family and just outrageously fun ways. Yet it is such a tragedy that great suffering will ensue. Monasteries around Nepal are doing pujas. The animals at the Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Nepal, will be lead around Geshe Lama Konchog’s stupa at Kopan Monastery and will continue to hear mantras and sutras. Here is a link to the animals going around the stupa at Kopan on the weekend: http://youtu.be/2UCTyZVhX8A or view via our Facebook site on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Enlightenment-for-the-Dear-Animals/122395807825063 Unfortunately there is no room for more animals. As much as we would all like to rescue as many animals from this terror, we would ask anyone visiting Nepal to please not bring more animals to the Animal Liberation Sanctuary at Kopan. The Animal Liberation Sanctuary is in temporary facilities where 35 goats and 2 sheep have to share one shelter until shelters are completed on the new land. The shelter cannot take any more animals as it is full. · The sanctuary is primarily to house animals that Kyabje Thubten Zopa Rinpoche has rescued himself or on his request. · The current shelter is overcrowded (new shelters are not yet complete) · There are no quarantine facilities at the monastery and many of the goats going to slaughter carry disease which can be contagious and deadly · The cost of caring for the animals is very high. Our current donation income is not even closely reaching our monthly costs for food, veterinary care, staffing and maintenance. Funding targets for the new shelters has also not been reached. If you would like to organize for the rescue of animals during Dashain or at any other time, please look for other long-term accommodation options. Helping Animals But the animals here at Kopan do need you! Any support that you give to the animals at the Animal Liberation Sanctuary can be dedicated to the long lives of holy gurus, to people with life obstacles and to the goats and other animals under threat of death, particularly here in Nepal during Dashain. The late Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup said that the merit of supporting liberated animals is the same as directly liberating an animal yourself, for without ongoing support, the animals would not survive. Read what Lama Zopa Rinpoche has to say about animal sacrifices by going to: http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advice/51-zopa/advice/741-stop-animal-sacrifice.html Other things you can do: · Make strong prayers for the goats (and the people doing the killing) · Recite the ‘Golden Light Sutra’ and dedicate for the removal of obstacles to Rinpoche’s Animal Liberation Sanctuary in Nepal. · Recite mantras for animals in the street. · Encourage people to offer fruit and other cruelty free things for the festival as some people do. · Encourage people to give up eating meat for a day, a week, a year, a lifetime and dedicate the merit! We know that this is a difficult time and we appreciate your understanding. May all beings be free of suffering and its causes! Tania Duratovic and Phil Hunt Project Coordinators Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Nepal sanctuarynepal@animail.net +977-9818488506 www.enlightenmentforanimals.org