Mumbai’s First Political Animal Welfare Chief Outlines Vision To ‘Corporatise’ Stray Care

Mumbai: In a city where the management of stray animals has long been a flashpoint for conflict and administrative neglect, Sanket Bhatt is proposing a paradigm shift. As the Maharashtra State Head of the Shiv Sena’s Animal Welfare Force – the first dedicated animal wing of any major political party in India – Bhatt is leveraging both political machinery and private-sector efficiency to overhaul the city's approach to animal rights.

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From Event Management to Animal Advocacy

In a recent conversation with The Free Press Journal, Bhatt detailed his mission to professionalise animal welfare through his new NGO, JeevOne, and his role within the Shiv Sena to ensure that the voiceless have a permanent seat at the legislative table. Through his long experience in the event management industry and managing some of the widely popular Indian artists, Bhatt now plans to corporatise the animal welfare movement by also leveraging political support to bring the industry into mainstream and ensure proper care of the strays.

The establishment of the Shiv Sena Animal Welfare Force marks a significant shift in regional politics. While animal welfare has traditionally been the domain of independent activists and overburdened NGOs, its integration into a mainstream political structure provides a level of legal and administrative muscle previously unseen.

Uniting Animal Lovers Under One Political Umbrella

Bhatt said, “Whenever a problem related to feeding or rescue of animals has arisen, people are dependent on either NGOs or independent animal activists. I thought why not have a proper political stance on this entire issue. The idea behind having a dedicated political wing for animal welfare is also to unite animal lovers and activists.”

According to Bhatt, the political machinery will become the supporting arm of his long-term plan to standardise the field of animal welfare through JeevOne. Through a mobile application, which was recently launched, JeevOne will unite community animal feeders, rescuers and pet owners by bridging the gap between compassion and technology. The platform will allow feeders to maintain day-to-day records of the animals they care for, log feeding costs and medical expenses, online veterinary consultancy, conflict resolution support and creating crowd-sourced census of street animals in India.

Moving Beyond Charity to a Profit-Driven Model

“The problem of the animal welfare community is that people have been working in this field for 25-30 years and still nothing has changed or systemised. All that has been done by many of these organisations is collecting donations. I understand money is important to keep up the welfare work but how long will we carry out this work as a social enterprise? We need to corporatise it so that everything can be systemised, organised and perfected,” Bhatt said, adding that JeevOne will be purely profit-driven to ensure accountability in animal welfare.

Bhatt plans to identify community feeders through digital feeder cards and regularly educate the feeders through special workshops to ensure that animals are taken good care of and feeding is carried out in a way that prevents conflicts between locals. In a later phase, JeevOne also aims to operate motorcycle ambulances for small animals as a better option for feeders and pet owners in comparison to the existing ambulance services which are costly and rare to find. The legacy program will allow donors to invest in one motorcycle ambulance, which will double its fleet over time with the increase in demand while also generating revenue for its own operations.

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Professionalising the Feeder Community

Bhatt’s idea behind corporatising animal welfare is to provide employment opportunities to animal lovers, feeders and activists, who usually do the unpaid job voluntarily. JeevOne will design skill development courses to certify them for animal care work and connect them with people who require skilled professionals to look after their animals. Later this year, JeevOne will start organising animal centric events like pet festivals and Mahapaur puja for pets to bring together animal lovers and also generate revenue for their work.

“Instead of relying on the government and telling them to bring the change, I would say, let me do it. With whatever limited amount of resources we have, we can bring the best models and pilot models in the field of animal welfare. We are already talking to one of the big tech giants of the country and plan to utilise their infrastructures for the work,” he added.

By blending the grassroots reach of the Shiv Sena with the professional efficiency of JeevOne, Bhatt aims to set a blueprint for other Indian metros. For Mumbai, this could mean a future where animal care is not just a gesture of compassion, but a functional, well-oiled part of the city's urban infrastructure.

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