Protecting Our Feeding Programme

Over the past year, individuals and tour operators have asked if we have considered transforming Dogstar Foundation’s street dog feeding programme into a paid tourist attraction. While the interest is flattering, this is something that will never happen, and here’s why…

Animal welfare comes first

Feeding a large group of roaming street dogs is more than a photo-op – it’s a delicate, expertly managed process. Our dedicated team (Team Blue) work with these dogs daily and understand each dog’s unique needs – who needs a separate bowl away from others, who likes to be touched and, most importantly, who doesn’t. These dogs rely on the routine and the familiar faces of our team, so introducing strangers could cause them significant stress and put our team at risk of injury.

The rabies risk is real

Sri Lanka is a rabies-endemic country. Even though our team is vaccinated and we work tirelessly to vaccinate every dog, new dogs can suddenly appear. Allowing unvaccinated tourists to interact with potentially unvaccinated street dogs, especially during feeding, would be dangerous and utterly irresponsible.

The price of publicity

It’s no secret that getting meaningful publicity is a challenge in overseas animal welfare work. What’s even more frustrating is when sponsorship and media offers vanish – not because the work isn’t valuable, but because our commitment to animal welfare forces us to say “no” to approaches that would compromise our ethics.

We are unbelievably grateful for the love and support that our supporters share with these animals daily. And if it wasn’t for our global Team Dogstar family, our Meals on Three Wheels feeding programme wouldn’t exist. But we believe that genuine support for animal welfare means putting the animals’ well-being above all else.

We share photos and videos from the feeding rounds regularly on our social media channels so our supporters can witness their love in action. In our eyes, this is the best way to show our community the difference their love is making without compromising the safety of the animals we are trying to help.