About Us
Who We Are
Priya Agarwal Hebbar
Co-Founder & Trustee
BSc Psychology Graduate from Warwick University, UK – Priya conceptualised YODA in 2010 when she came to know about the animal cruelty, abuse and puppy mill system in India.
Priya is a communication and social impact professional with over 10 years of experience in PR & Advertising and Social Services in companies like Ogilvy & Mather and Rediffusion YR
She is the visionary behind YODA and leads the strategic planning and expansion initiatives.
Pooja Sakpal
Co-Founder & Trustee
Pooja is a passionate animal welfare enthusiast with over 10 years of experience in domestic animal health, shelter management, rescue and advocacy.
Pooja has devoted her life to the cause and oversees the entire operations of the YODA Shelter. She is the woman on ground working with the veterinarians, animal welfare officers and rescue teams ensuring each animal that comes into our shelter is given perfect care.
Meenal Rajda
Co-Founder & Director
Meenal is a certified Canine Behaviourist, trained under the well know Shirin Merchant. She has an innate love for animals and leads our communication and marketing vertical.
Meenal has over 10 years of experience in the communication space and is currently, alongside YODA, the Brand & Marketing manager at LinkedIn.
Meenal trains our staff to assess the behaviour of our animals at the shelter and makes sure each adopted animal settles in well with their new families. She is available for a behaviour consultation for any families who have adopted from YODA, who may require some help in settling their dog in.
Akarsh Hebbar
Co-Founder & Trustee
Akarsh is an electronics and telecommunication engineer with an MBA from London Business School. He overlooks the entire finance division of the organisation.
A technology geek grown up with animals, Akarsh has always loved the field work at YODA and has constantly strived to streamline and digitize the processes and professional services at YODA.
Visit the Shop
What We Do
Our YODA Shelter, Khar focuses on:
Over 100 animals are abandoned or injured on the streets of Mumbai Navi Mumbai & Thane each month. Most of these animals get left as they are without notice or treatment for days until the injury becomes detrimental or even fatal.
YODA was initiated in 2010 to work towards solving this problem. The organization started by conducting awareness programs in schools, slums, residential societies and various communities to educate individuals about what to do when they see a stray animal in distress.
In 2017, we set up our shelter in Khar West, Mumbai to efficiently attend to such animals in distress and give them prompt treatment and rehabilitation via best in class medical and behavioral rehabilitation services by our expert team of vets and behaviorists.
With the R3 program, we ensure each animal is efficiently rehabilitated & released or rehomed within a span of 25 days.
Each animal is provided with best medical care and is evaluated post treatment to decide if he/she is to be released or rehomed given the circumstances.
YODA has a very successful animal adoption program we call R2.
Over 150 infant puppies & kittens are orphaned each month across Maharashtra each month.
YODA trains families to rear infant animals until they are fit for rehoming.
We have a network of 100+ foster families who have been trained and are available to us for the rearing program.
YODA has a strict & efficient adoption process (interview, interaction, inspection) which ensures each infant is adopted by a suitable family who can look after all their needs perfectly.
YODA gets over 100 animals successfully adopted each month.
YODA is open 6 days a week for free of cost OPD for homeless animals.
We have 2 senior vets along with 5 rotating trainee vets through the week
We treat over 500 animals each month
This is inclusive of consultation, medication & surgery
There are over 1 Lakh stray dogs across Mumbai, and they are only multiplying.
20,000 individuals die each year in India due to Rabies from stray dog bites.
In order to help the city, reduce the number of stray and rabid animals, YODA vaccinates are sterilizes over 100 dogs & cats each month with the best medical laparoscopic technology which is quick, minimal pain, and safe for male and female dogs & cats.
Many animals who come into the shelter are mentally very disturbed. We have a team of 5+ behaviour experts who gradually work with them to develop trust and comfort with human beings.
YODA’s Shelters
YODA Khar Rehab Centre
Located at the heart of Mumbai city, YODA Rehab centre in Khar is a small, 60 animal centre which conducts efficient rehabilitation for stray animals who have been injured, neglected, ill-treated or who are unwell.
YODA Shelter, Karjat is a 5 acre project that is coming soon.
YODA Karjat Rehab Centre
Coming Soon
YODA is a Mumbai-based NGO that was started with a vision to help abandoned animals throughout the country and provide homes for these abandoned and stray animals. The organization actively finds homes for stray animals (dogs and cats) and mass sterilizations of stray animals in different zones across Mumbai and surrounding regions