Backgound

My wife and I retired in April-May 2022. We had pre-decided that we would use our retirement to undertake long-distance walking adventures (while remaining physically able to do so!). For our first adventure, we walked the length of Great Britain from Land's End to John o' Groats - a distance of 1126 miles - during summer 2022.

For our next adventure we are walking the length of Sri Lanka. To our knowledge this challenge has not been documented before and, possibly, not undertaken before. We are walking from Sri Lanka’s most southerly point (Dondra Head) to the island’s most northerly point (Point Pedro). Our route is 477-miles long and has 32,900 feet of ascent. It is hilly, challenging and often ‘off the beaten track’.

We are undertaking this challenge to fundraise for the vaccination and sterilisation of street dogs in the Hill Country of Sri Lanka.

Why do Sri Lanka street dogs need help?

If you visit Sri Lanka you will notice the large number of stray dogs that roam the streets in every town and village. Estimates put the total number of street dogs countrywide at between 3 and 6 million. The overpopulation and suffering of these strays has become a serious issue for Sri Lanka. Most street dogs suffer from malnutrition, untreated diseases and injuries (often road traffic accidents) (Figures 1 and 2). Unfortunately, many locals regard street dogs as pests and either ignore or mistreat them. Unwanted puppies are just abandoned at the roadside. Small international charities are trying to help but their efforts are focussed mainly around the major cities in Sri Lanka (Colombo, Kandy, Galle) rather than in the country’s beautiful but less accessible Hill Country region.

Figure 1. A common sight in Sri Lanka – street dogs suffering from skin diseases, malnutrition and injury. (Photographs courtesy of OIPA).

Figure 2. Street dogs hoping for food scraps from a refuse lorry in Nuwara Eliya (Sri Lankan Hill Country town). (Matyas Rehak / Alamy).

Why do we care?

We are both dog lovers. My wife was brought up in the Sri Lanka Hill Country and visits the area regularly. She has rescued and cared for four street dogs including two abandoned puppies (Ruth and Dixie). Dogs in Sri Lanka need urgent help. The numbers and suffering of these animals can only be improved by implementing vaccination and sterilisation (neutering) programs together with education efforts to change the attitudes of locals to animal welfare.

How will donated money help?

Donations will go directly to paying for vaccination and sterilisation clinics for street dogs in the Sri Lanka Hill Country town of Haputale and its surrounding villages including Beragala. The cost of catching, neutering and vaccinating one street dog is now about GBP 25 (LKR 11,000). We are hoping to raise funds to treat at least 24 dogs. (This number may not sound large but small steps can lead to bigger outcomes!). The clinics will be arranged with the help of veterinary staff in Haputale and, if necessary, with assistance from two small charities located nearby called ‘Dogs of Ella’ and ‘Lucas Helps Dogs’.

Details of our Sri Lanka walk

Our route to cross Sri Lanka End-to-End (Figure 3) has been chosen to increase the opportunity for adventure, scenic experience and cultural gain. We have divided the route into 32 daily segments, each about 15 miles long. Zoomable maps are available for the whole route and for each daily segment upon request. Alternatively, if you are registered with the Komoot route planning and navigation system for hiking (www.komoot.com), we can easily provide these maps to your account if you are interested.

Figure 3. Map showing the route (purple line) for our Sri Lanka End-to-End walk. The route runs from Dondra Head (point “A”) in the south to Point Pedro (point “B”) in the north.

Thank you and further information

Thank you for kindly reading our fundraising story - we hope that it was of interest. Should you have any comments or questions about this please do not hesitate to contact either myself or my wife.

Mark Saunders (e: mas7757@live.com)

Chitra Saunders (e: kacj9562@gmail.com).