About Us

Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 February 2010 23:09 Written by FIAPO Friday, 22 January 2010 08:09

In order to help you understand the Federation’s purposes we have provided a Q&A below. If you notice issues which would be helped by further clarification, please contact us with your suggestion: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We expect this section will be updated from time to time.

Please click here to read about FIAPO's Policy on Animal Rights, Welfare, Peace, Violence and Religious Freedom.

Last updated: 22 January 2010.

A: FIAPO is a resource for Indian animal protection organisations, providing:

organisations, providing:

Support: Supporting animal protection groups in the country through various means, particularly capacity building;

Networking: Encouraging the sharing of knowledge and creation of networks at different levels;

Advocacy: Encouraging the formulation and improvement of national and state legislation and policy that impact the condition of animals; providing a collective voice for Indian animal protection organisations at the national and international levels;

Research and Education: Informing and guiding FIAPO member programmes/projects

Q: Is FIAPO an organisation?

A: Yes. Here are some conceptual ideas behind the Federation. The Federation has two distinct faces :

• where it services, supports and acts as an umbrella for existing organisations
• where it acts as an organisation in its own right. It acts as an organization in its own right in areas like farmed animals and vivisection - issues on which there isn't significant work going on in India and it is unlikely that there will be work in the near future because existing organisations are fully committed to their ongoing activities, most of which deal with companion animals, sheltering and ABC. As work develops by existing (or new) organisations FIAPO will serve as support structure.

Q: Where is FIAPO based?

A: A temporary FIAPO office is housed in the offices of Samrakshan, in Dwarka, New Delhi. Most of the business of FIAPO is conducted on line by volunteers and staff from their homes and offices.

Q: I like FIAPO’s purpose. How can I become a FIAPO member?

A: Please look at http://www.indiananimalsfederation.org/index.php/membership.html for membership details.

Q: Is FIAPO a registered trust?

A: Not yet. The trust deed and other paperwork has been sent to the trust registration office and we are awaiting trust registration.

Q: I am associated with several organisations but I am not a formal part of any of them, therefore, how can I be involved in the federation?

A: You can use any of the public outreach materials available through the website. You can subscribe to the group discussion forum ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and through this forum be an active participant in the widest imaginable range of topics related to Indian animals.

Q: Who is involved with FIAPO’s day-to-day work?

A: The Federation is comprised of 7 founding organisations, each of which contributes a delegate to the Board of Trustees. The organisations and their delegates are:

Blue Cross of India, Delegate Dr S. Chinny Krishna
PFA Goa – Delegate Norma Alvarez
Welfare of Stray Dogs Bombay – Delegate Abodh Aras
Animal Aid Charitable Trust –Delegate Erika Abrams
SHARAN – Delegate Dr Nandita Shah
CUPA – Delegate Dr Shiela Rao
Blue Cross of Hyderabad – Delegate Amala Akkineni

Q: What does the Board of Trustees do?

A: The Board of Trustees provides overall direction and takes key policy decisions with regard to the Federation.

Q: Are there staff in FIAPO?

A: Two executive staff have been appointed on a part time voluntary basis.

Arpan Sharma is Convener, responsible for overall management and growth of FIAPO. Arpan is co-founder of FIAPO and has been involved in conceptualizing and launching FIAPO since 2007. Arpan researched and authored working papers on farmed animal status in India and is principally building up the farmed animals campaign in accordance with a strategy that has been agreed upon by the trustees.

Claire Abrams, Coordinator in charge of running the capacity building component (for animal welfare organisations) of the Federation’s farmed animals strategy. In addition Claire is also tasked with managing the website and assisting the Convener in other activities from time to time.

For relatively more immediate outputs, consultants are appointed on a short term basis to work on specific projects. For instance as of now, Dr Lakshmi Padmanabhan is working on a project to establish FIAPO’s on-line resource centre for farmed animals.

Apart from these individuals and organisations, there have been several others who have contributed to conceptualising and setting up the Federation in the past and continued to do so now as well. Some of these people are: Chetana Mirle (Humane Society International), N.G. Jayasimha (HSI), Deepashree Balaram, (ACTAsia for Animals), Dr Abdul Rahman (Commonwealth Vety Association), and many others.

Q: What resources or tools are created by FIAPO?

A: - Research reports outlining the current status of farmed animals are on the Farmed Animal’s page.
- Similarly where necessary outreach material is produced. However, this will only be done in cases where there is no pre-existing material and there is no alternative to produce fresh material.
- FIAPO also hosts a nation-wide on-line community discussion group regarding issues about Indian animals,
- An online resource centre that will have all existing outreach and resource material germane to farmed animals in India is currently being established.
- Capacity building workshops for animal welfare organisations are being followed up with the creation of specific projects (to be run by organisations) that will tangibly further well being of animals raised for human consumption.

Q: Can FIAPO help my local organisation receive funding?

A: Not directly. While FIAPO can help to strengthen your organisation’s fund-raising skills, it does not have any plans in the near future to either seek or provide funds for local organizational use.