Dr Janey Lowes has spent almost 12 years helping Sri Lanka’s street dogs. Here are ten things to know about the woman behind WECare Worldwide.
She’s a vet from County Durham.
Originally from Barnard Castle, Janey has made her home in southern Sri Lanka, dedicating her working life to animals with limited access to veterinary care.
A backpacking trip changed her plans.
Visiting Sri Lanka in May 2014, she saw dogs suffering without treatment. She was only three years qualified, but wanted to put her veterinary skills to work.
She moved there five months later.
Janey arrived in October 2014 intending to take a one-year sabbatical. 12 years on, she’s still there.
She started with help from her UK practice.
Westway Veterinary Group donated £10,000 to help her move and establish WECare Worldwide. That support gave her the chance to turn an idea into practical care.
Her home became a makeshift treatment centre.
In the early days, Janey and her small team treated dogs by roadsides and in her house. Eventually, the number of patients made a dedicated hospital essential.
She lives with five former street dogs.
Janey shares her home with five dogs who once lived on the streets. Her love of dogs clearly follows her home from work.
She loves surfing, food and dancing.
Away from veterinary work, those are her favourite ways to spend her free time, when she gets the chance.
You may recognise her from television.
Janey featured in New Lives in the Wild with Ben Fogle, broadcast in 2019. Fogle has supported her work ever since and is now WECare’s patron.
She’s kept her sense of humour through tough training.
Janey openly admits she hates running and hasn’t found the promised runner’s high. Her fundraising updates cover lost toenails, aching muscles and the dogs that keep her motivated.
She’s putting herself through 600 km to help more dogs.
This month, Janey plans to run across Sri Lanka in 22 days to raise funds for WECare’s new hospital and training centre. Her reason: “I’m suffering so that street dogs don’t have to.”
Help Janey build the next chapter of WECare: support her Dog Jog.
