IHRF is committed to the preservation and protection of all of God's creatures. For this reason, we have instituted a special Animal Care project. The first phase of this project is a Gaushala and Cow-care program in Rishikesh. In this project, the cows are taken off of the streets and are brought to the cow home where they are given food, shelter and are treated by a veterinarian for any diseases. Our goal is to give Gau Mata a safe, healthy environment in which to live and to make the roads clean and safe for drivers and pedestrians. Each day we pray to "Gau Mata" and we savor her milk as nectar. Yet, we let her wander stray on the roads, hungry and homeless. This is a black spot on our country and culture in numerous ways. First, the homeless cows are inevitably malnourished and diseased, living only on discarded scraps, cardboard and other tossed aside rubbish. There are no facilities to treat injuries or ailments – the sick merely wander off alone.

Second, by walking aimlessly in the middle of streets, these stray cows present a safety hazard to pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.

When foreign visitors come they often wonder at the paradox between our worship of the "holy cow" and the fact that she is most likely seen sleeping in the middle of a busy highway. To address this unfortunate situation, last year, under the guidance and direction of Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, we built a kanii house (gaushala) on the land of Parmarth Niketan ashram.

Now as part of our rural development project in Veerpur, a new cow home will be built where they will have even more room to graze and live.

Left: Puja for Mother Cow

Right: Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Bhaishri discuss IHRF's work and the momentous Encyclopeida of Hinduism project with His Excellency, the Governor.