Guardian of Angels: A sanctuary of compassion for India’s forgotten animals

Guardian of Angels Trust, founded by Hari Kishan Mangle and his wife, stands as the last hope for hundreds of distressed animals, including monkey’s, stray dogs, and cows. Most of its inhabitants are abused, injured of abandoned and have nowhere else to go. From mother cows left to die on roads to electrocuted monkeys and paralysed dogs, every creature that reaches this shelter finds hope, healing, and love.

A calling born from compassion

Hari’s journey began in his childhood. “Ever since I was a child, my mother used to tell me that I had a lot of affection for dogs,” he recalls. This empathy only deepened over time. Years later, after rescuing a wounded puppy on his way to work, Hari realised his life’s true purpose. “I picked up the child in my arms and took him to a doctor’s clinic… We named him Laliya. Laliya stayed with us for 12 years.”

From feeding stray dogs outside his home to answering calls about injured animals, Hari and his wife soon became local heroes. As he says, “We started getting so many calls that it became almost impossible for us to attend personally. So we felt that there should be a shelter where we can keep these children and treat them.” And thus, in 2019, Guardian of Angels was born.

Love that demands sacrifice

Starting the shelter came at a heavy personal cost. “I used to work in a company in a good position. My wife used to work as a teacher… But we made a decision that we would quit our jobs and save the lives of these children,” says Hari. “I sacrificed as much as I could to build the shelter. And the biggest sacrifice was that I had to sell my house. I also had to mortgage my wife’s jewelry.”

Even today, Hari and his wife manage the daily operations with their own hands. “Due to lack of funds, we cannot keep much staff. Therefore, my wife and I do all the work with our own hands, from their feeding to cleaning and treatment. They are like our own children, so we are very happy to do any work for them, and we feel no shame in it.”

Healing the voiceless

At any given time, more than 400 animals, cows, dogs, monkeys, and birds, are being treated at Guardian of Angels. The shelter has specialised wards for paralyzed, blind, and sick animals. “Paralyzed animals are given heat therapy. They are given physiotherapy. They are placed in a machine and massaged so that they can stand on their feet again,” explains Hari.

Every rescued animal receives customised care. “Dogs are given food like milk, bread, soybeans, rice, lentils, and boiled vegetables. Monkeys are given fruits like banana, apple, guava, chikoo, and papaya… Small babies whose mothers have died are fed milk through bottles.” He adds, “Good food also helps a lot in treating animals in very bad condition, and animals are given not just food but also love, because love can breathe life into the dying.”

Rescuing against all odds

Each day brings new challenges. “Every day, we get hundreds of calls. We want to rush to every call. We want to save every life, but lack of funds stops us. Sometimes, there is no petrol, sometimes the medicine is finished, sometimes there is no money for the doctor or the vehicle.”

Yet, Hari refuses to give up. Whether it’s pulling a paralyzed cow off the road or bottle-feeding an orphaned monkey, his team works day and night. “Our rescue team… a doctor goes along because many times, the case involves such severe injuries that the poor, speechless animal dies just from the pain. So, our doctor goes along to give first aid right there on the road, to save them from that pain.”

The cruel reality

Hari has witnessed unimaginable cruelty. “People beat them with sticks… Some shoot them with pellets, some injure them with an axe, some pour hot water on them, some pour acid on them. Many times, people deliberately drive vehicles over animals sitting on the road.” He continues, “A poor cow is sitting on the road, and someone is passing by and hits her for no reason. Many times, people feed poison to these poor, voiceless creatures.”

Monkeys too suffer greatly. “The monkeys that live in the cities mostly remain hungry… When they do not get anything, they try to enter people’s houses… and people behave cruelly towards them. Many times, people shoot them, pour hot water on them, hit them with bricks and stones.”

A spiritual duty

For Hari, caring for monkeys is a spiritual duty. “These monkeys are the form of God. They are the direct form of Hanuman ji. Hanuman ji is dear to Shri Ram ji.”  The shelter is also home to hundreds of cows rescued from streets and accident sites. “It is written in our Vedas and Puranas: ‘Gaavo Vishwasya Matrah,’ which means the cow is the mother of the entire world. But when the same mother cow stops giving milk or grows old, people abandon her on the streets.” Many arrive at the shelter after consuming plastic or sustaining horrific injuries. “We have saved the lives of mother cows by surgically removing 60 to 70 kilograms of polythene from their stomachs.”

Hari adds, “At this time, more than 200 cows are being treated at our shelter… If we get funds, we will be able to buy good food for them, and it will be much easier for us to treat them.”

Every life deserves a chance

Despite limited resources, Guardian of Angels has already changed thousands of lives. “In the last six years, we have helped more than 9,000 cows, more than 2,000 monkeys, and more than 11,000 dogs and other animals and birds.” 

Yet, the need keeps growing. “The cages we have… are becoming insufficient. We are getting new monkeys every day. If we can build more cages for them, we will be able to save the lives of more of these children.”

How you can help

Hari’s message is simple and powerful: “Your small donation can become a bandage for an injured cow. It can become medicine for a small puppy. It can become a fruit for a monkey. Or a chance at life for an innocent creature.”

As he says with folded hands, “Please help us so that no rescue call remains unanswered, and no mother cow or speechless creature dies suffering on the road. Every life matters, every contribution saves a life.”