She Steps Out When Others Step Back: Alwar's Jyoti Saini Rescues 800 Snakes, 500 Dogs, Leads Wildlife Protection Effort

Alwar (Rajasthan): For Jyoti Saini, the difference between day and night blurs when it comes to rescuing animals. Prompt to attend to distress calls from across Alwar, she immediately steps on to the road, many times in the dead of night, when most of Alwar is asleep. She walks through its streets and makes sure no animal should die unattended, fighting for survival. So far, Jyoti has saved over 800 snakes and more than 500 dogs, defining what compassion is and how action can help the voiceless creatures.

Working in a private company, Jyoti's instinctive empathy took her into the world of organised rescue effort. Over the past 6-7 years, she and her 17-member team have rescued hundreds of animals including snakes, monitor lizards, monkeys, cats and injured stray dogs, often in high-risk situations.

Jyoti checks the temperature of a sick dog on the streets of Alwar (ETV Bharat)

A journey that began when she was in Class 5, has today become the purpose of her life. “I didn’t know anything about rescue then, but I tried to help a fallen sparrow chick from a nest. That urge in me was so strong that I could not stop myself from doing more,” she recalls. The turning point came years later when a dog in her neighbourhood was brutally attacked. “Someone had hit the dog hard and its eyes had come out. I was so shaken that I decided to do something drastic so that such cruelty can be stopped. But 'how' was the question,” she says. That moment pushed her into active rescue work and awareness campaigns.

For Jyoti it was not an easy route. When she started helping animals, she had to face resistance even from her own people. Instead of support, Jyoti often faced resistance and ridicule. "I was discouraged, mocked and questioned. Even today, they cannot see a woman stepping into what is largely seen as a male-dominated field. When men get involved, not many question but my working in the streets was not tolerable to many. But I put my feet down and firmly at that, to prove that helping poor animals need not be categorised as a gender norm,” she says.

Jyoti along with her team mate (ETV Bharat)

One of the biggest challenges, she faced, especially during night rescues was threats from anti-socials. But her family stood by her. Her elder brother accompanied her on late-night calls while her mother helped prepare feed for stray dogs in the locality.

With little external help, Jyoti eventually set up her own not-for-profit organisation to formalise her work. Today, her team operates with greater legitimacy and reach. Funding remains a constant challenge but Jyoti does not mind spending a good portion of her salary on treatment, food and medicines for rescued animals. However, some team members and local supporters chip in when possible. Recently, her team also conducted an anti-rabies vaccination drive, pooling resources to cover the high cost of vaccines.

Jyoti Saini (ETV Bharat)

Despite working for long hours at office, Jyoti continues to feed stray dogs across accessible areas at night. “If dogs are not hungry, they are less likely to be aggressive and road accidents can also be reduced,” she explains.

Though she once nurtured aspirations of becoming a doctor, life took a different route. “If I had become a doctor, I would have served people. Now, by saving animals, I feel I am doing the same service, though unofficially,” she says.

Jyoti and her team members on a rescue mission (ETV Bharat)

Apart from rescue operations, Jyoti and her team are involved in broader social initiatives in Alwar. They work on cleanliness awareness, promote local tourism and take up conservation of old stepwells and wells. Local residents participate in their plantation drives and are encouraged to take responsibility for the saplings planted in their colonies.

Jyoti's team member checking on a sick cow (ETV Bharat)

Jyoti Saini does not know what she is seeding in people around her and even farther. But she is certainly creating an example in a world that is largely interested in self care. She leads a work which does not need monetary help but empathy and kindness for every living being, particularly animals. Thankfully, Alwar people see her as the person who changed the way a city responds to its voiceless.

Jyoti checks on a dog who has been injured (ETV Bharat)

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2. Abandoned Dog Puli Turns Lifesaver, Donates Blood Seven Times At Khammam Veterinary Hospital