I no longer just wanted to earn for myself – I wanted to help others. I left India to go to Singapore for a job, and there I realized how unfulfilled I felt. I started Kannan Animal Welfare when I lived in Singapore and I was at my mental and emotional lowest – for 1.5 years I ran it from there until I returned to Delhi in 2016 after being offered a job with a highly respected law firm.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
My father passed away in an accident when I was only 19 years old, and my entire life was turned around. Everything was affected. I had dreams that I had wanted to fulfill.
After 10th grade, I had decided I wanted to give the UPSC exams and become an IAS officer – find a way to earn respect, as I still struggled to assert myself. I had wanted to attend the London School of Economics to study Political Science and have a career in government administration.
Yet, life doesn’t go as planned. After this life-changing event, I supported my family until my brother’s and my own studies were over, and until after my brother was married. After a few years of draining hard work, I was finally in a position to be comfortable enough that I could begin focusing on other aspects of my life.
I no longer just wanted to earn for myself – I wanted to help others. I left India to go to Singapore for a job, and there I realized how unfulfilled I felt. I started Kannan Animal Welfare when I lived in Singapore and I was at my mental and emotional lowest – for 1.5 years I ran it from there until I returned to Delhi in 2016 after being offered a job with a highly respected law firm.
What helped KAW grow was the urgent need for a space that focuses on critical care work for animals. We grew to an organization with fourteen shelter staff members, six full-time employees, fifteen interns, and over thirty volunteers spanning different fields. KAW has now helped over 1000 dogs in the most horrible conditions imaginable and has found forever homes for 150 dogs overseas through our international rehoming program.
Whilst unexpected circumstances have been major challenges for my organization, I have endured what’s come my way and been able to adapt so far. Learning this lesson years ago - that sometimes life can be incredibly difficult, but we must find ways to persevere if we hope to help others - has significantly helped me through some of these obstacles.
2. What inspired you to participate in a beauty pageant?
From the beginning, I wanted to help animal welfare become a priority at the national and global levels. Unfortunately, welfare work is often perceived as a lowly profession; animal rights is also viewed as a “secondary” social justice issue.
When the opportunity came to participate in Mrs. India, I decided it was worth the risk, so I stepped way outside my comfort zone to show people across India the importance of the animal welfare cause.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to talk about self-care – actually, myths about self-care. Firstly, it was important to emphasize how one can value beauty and self-care without relying on products made from animal cruelty or environmental destruction.
There are many cruelty-free and eco-friendly alternatives out there! Secondly, I wanted to discuss how self-care is a crucial – and often neglected – aspect of welfare work. We should provide care for others and ourselves, so we can continue working for this cause and avoid burnout.
Hopefully, my participation and advocacy in the Mrs. India pageant will help inspire young people and animal lovers to get involved and contribute to our efforts!
3. How & when did you decide to work as an activist for animal rights
After the sudden loss of my father, I put my career aspirations on hold to provide for my mother and brother. Yet I always returned to my guiding principle: making a social impact. Eventually, my experiences in 2014 redirected my path towards animal rights activism.
Having witnessed a brutal case of animal abuse by one of my neighbors, I began rescuing community animals during my free time. Tragically, thirty-seven of the dogs I’d rescued that year died in different shelters across Delhi-NCR.
I realized that because most shelters in India are underfunded and overwhelmed with rescue cases, stray animals typically receive subpar care and experience threats to their heath. I decided to take action again, guided by the belief that all dogs - like all people - deserve excellent medical care, regardless of the severity of their health conditions.
In 2015, I established a new center, Kannan Animal Welfare, to provide care for about 20 dogs and to address the challenges faced by other shelters. Quality care needed to be at the very core of KAW’s model, and I decided that we should dedicate our rescue and rehabilitation work towards the community animals most in need – those with the most critical illnesses, injuries, and experiences.
It was also vital to reject euthanasia as an easy option; instead, shelters need to recognize that animals, even after they’ve endured horrible treatment, have the resilience and will to recover.
In 2018, I knew that if I wanted to make a true difference in animal welfare, I needed to dedicate as much time as possible to it, so I quit my secure corporate job and fully committed myself to the animal welfare cause. Since then, I’m proud to say that our rescues and work at KAW have been my life!
4. What are your views on animals being used for entertainment and sport?
I strongly believe that when you are using living beings but do not have their consent, it’s not only atrocious but cruel. Unfortunately, the entirety of animal sports has cruelty, whether it’s greyhound racing or horseback riding.
We haven’t reached that standard where we prioritize animal wellbeing and protection from cruelty over all else - including our societal desire for so-called sport and entertainment.
Similarly, although movie producers and show businesses claim that they’re ensuring “no animals are being harmed,” once again when they use animals in films, it’s typically without consent. Any interaction that’s not natural is essentially cruel in this situation.
5. Who do you admire most & why?
I would have to say that I really admire Mr. Rata Tata. I’d love to have a conversation with him and learn more about how he sees the world.
This is someone who has built an entire empire, yet still has the heart to give to those less fortunate. People who can give back - they’re just in a different category altogether!
I’d want to know how he brought both those sides together - the successful businessman and the caring philanthropist. And he’s also an animal lover, which of course is admirable too!
6. How would you define success and what are your future goals?
On a personal level, I believe that the pinnacle of achievement is creating positive change through the work in your life – it’s about combining passion, dedication, and impact. In terms of success in animal welfare, I believe we have to get rid of this widespread idea that animals are “disposable” – instead, we have to understand that animals deserve dignity and our compassion.
It’s very impactful to improve the health and well-being of animals through our work, but we always remember that ultimately, we need to transform the relationship between humans and animals if we want deep, lasting change!
This understanding of success applies to the animal welfare field as a whole, too. Ideally, we’ll be successful when KAW and other animal welfare organizations become obsolete because people will treat animals with respect and animals will have universal access to quality care.
Regarding our future plans, KAW has been working towards incorporating animal welfare education in school curricula across Delhi-NCR. The KAW Compassion Project is our initiative to emphasize the importance of the animal welfare cause – and its links with other social and environmental justice issues – and to encourage students, faculty, and families to join the cause, too!
I deeply believe in the power of youth and education to change the world, so we’re confident that this project can have a lot of impact going forward. Our other major plan is to create an eco-friendly, multi-species animal sanctuary – a safe, healthy environment where rescued animals can receive individualized treatment, recover, and reside.
The KAW Sanctuary would triple KAW’s residence capacity, include an on-site hospital, and ensure sustainability for our rescues, shelter staff, local environment, and adjacent communities. We’re really hopeful that this model can influence how animal shelters operate – and what they prioritize – across India and the world, and we’d love to make the Sanctuary into a reality soon!
7. Which is your favorite book and why?
I think my current favorite book is Solve Happily: Engineer Your Path to Joy. It’s by Mo Gowdat, and it talks about how his son taught him how to be happy. I really like reading books about people’s journeys toward fulfillment, and I hope to learn from them.
Interviewed By - Khushi Garg
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