Gauri Maulekhi, Championing animal welfare on pilgrimage routes
For years, Gauri Maulekhi has cared for injured horses, donkeys, and mules that labour tirelessly under harsh conditions carrying devotees, luggage, and goods to remote temples and fairs. Thousands of horses, mules, and donkeys suffer from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition.
Gauri’s animal rescue work isn’t just about medical care, it advocates for policy shifts, humane transport regulations, and public awareness about animal rights and dignity.
She set up Happy Homes Sanctuary, the sole equine sanctuary in Uttarakhand, to provide refuge to disabled, injured, and abandoned animals.
In 2025, as conversations around ethical tourism and worker welfare grew, Gauri’s work highlights an urgent yet often invisible front of welfare, the animals whose toil enables cultural traditions.
