A Bengaluru-based non-profit is training rescued Indian street dogs alongside women in rural India to support people with disabilities and expand access to animal-assisted interventions.

BENGALURU, INDIA - September 2026: With an estimated 26 million people in India living with disabilities, trained assistance and therapy dogs remain out of reach for most individuals and families due to cost, limited availability and low awareness.
HeartDogs Enablement Foundation is working to change that.

HeartDogs is India's first systematic programme training rescued Indian street dogs, known as Indies, as assistance dogs, service dogs and therapy animals. The programme brings together animal welfare, disability inclusion and rural women's livelihoods in a single community-based model.

The organisation supports people and families living with autism, mobility challenges, hearing impairment and mental health conditions, while also working with hospitals, care centres and schools delivering animal-assisted interventions.
Three Lives. One Programme.
HeartDogs works across three interconnected groups:
• The Dogs: Rescued Indies are raised and trained using force-free, positive reinforcement-only methods. They live in family homes rather than kennels throughout their training.
• The Women: Women in rural India serve as foster-trainers, developing professional skills and earning an income while raising and training the dogs.
• People We Support: Trained dogs are prepared to support individuals living with disabilities and organisations delivering animal-assisted interventions.

Why Indies?
India's native landrace dogs are intelligent, resilient and highly adapted to the Indian environment. Yet they have rarely been considered for structured assistance and therapy dog work.

HeartDogs is working to demonstrate that carefully selected and professionally trained Indies can succeed in these roles, creating a locally rooted and potentially more accessible model of support.

A Different Model for India
"India does not need to import an entire model of assistance and therapy dogs. We already have extraordinary dogs living on our streets, and extraordinary animal husbandry skills in rural India. HeartDogs brings those possibilities together. We are working to show that a rescued Indie can become a highly trained working dog, that women in rural India can build skilled livelihoods through this work, and that people with disabilities can have access to support that has been out of reach for far too long."
- Vijay Raghunathan, Founder, HeartDogs Enablement Foundation

The programme's impact extends beyond the dogs. Padma, who had never worked outside her home, became a certified dog trainer after eighteen years as a housewife and began earning an independent income. Rathnamma used income from her training work to help pay for her sister's emergency surgery.

HeartDogs aligns its work with six UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDGs 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12, covering poverty reduction, health, gender equality, decent work, reduced inequalities and responsible consumption.
HeartDogs Enablement Foundation is a registered Section 8 non-profit under the Companies Act, 2013, based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

Learn more: https://heartdogs.org/