Jan Salter

Early life

Salter was born in Southampton, England. During her younger years, she travelled extensively throughout the world, often finding employment as a hairdresser in the countries she visited. This profession gave her the opportunity to earn income to support her travels.

Ms. Salter first visited the Himalayan country of Nepal in 1967 as a tourist. She was hired as a hairdresser in Boris Lisanevich's Royal Hotel, one of the first international hotels in the country. She continued to travel worldwide but no other country interested her like Nepal did. In 1975, she returned to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and has lived there since then.

At that time, Salter began to create pencil drawings of Nepali people. Although she had no formal training as an artist, she later expanded to oil paintings. Salter trekked with her Nepali son Premlal extensively throughout Nepal and drew portraits of the diverse ethnic groups who inhabit different regions of the country. She soon became well known for these portraits. She has enjoyed a successful career as an artist with many exhibitions of her work, and is still widely respected in Nepal for her paintings of the country's many ethnicities. Over the years she has befriended many people including Jane Wilson-Howarth and features in her travel memoir.

Faces of Nepal

Salter collaborated with the scholar and author Dr. Harka Gurung on a book entitled "Faces of Nepal." The book is a unique ethnographic study of the various ethnic groups of Nepal which combines Gurung's writings about each ethnicity with Salter's drawings and paintings of members of the groups. The book was published in 1996 and received much critical acclaim.

In 1997 Salter was decorated with the "Gorkha Dakshin Bahu" award by the then Nepali king, Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev. She has worked with the organisation Maiti Nepal which rescues Nepali girls who are trafficked and sold into prostitution. Salter produced a series of paintings entitled "All Our Daughters" of girls who had been rescued by Maiti Nepal.

Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre

Salter had long been disturbed by the suffering of the tens of thousands of street dogs in Kathmandu. Many are afflicted with malnutrition, injuries from collisions with vehicles, and infectious diseases. The government poisoned more than 10,000 street dogs every year with strychnine to attempt to reduce their population. While travelling in India in 2003, Ms. Salter visited an organisation called "Help in Suffering" in Jaipur that used spay/neuter surgeries to reduce the street dog population, an approach that was in its infancy in the developing world. Salter recognised that this can be applied on a large scale in Kathmandu and was immediately inspired to take action. At age 68, she stepped away from her career as an artist and dedicated her life to animal welfare.

Ms. Salter committed her life's financial savings to building and starting the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre (KAT Centre), the first organisation in Nepal working to improve the dog population. The KAT Centre was registered with the government of Nepal as a charity organisation in 2003 and opened on 9 May 2004. It continues to be the largest companion animal welfare organisation in Nepal.

The KAT Centre's goals are to humanely produce a healthy, stable street dog population and to eliminate rabies in Kathmandu. The core program engenders a sustainable reduction in the canine population through spay/neuter surgeries. As KAT's staff collects every female dog they can in an area to sterilise them and vaccinate them for rabies, they also provide all needed veterinary treatment to street animals in the same area.

Salter knew that to effect an enduring impact, she must transform people's attitudes about the dogs in their city. Therefore, the KAT Centre's animal care is complemented by an education program. KAT teaches children and adults about compassion for animals, street dog welfare, responsible pet ownership, and rabies awareness.

Salter's approach has produced a visible transformation in the city of Kathmandu, in the number of stray dogs, their health, and people's attitudes towards them. Ms. Salter continues to lead the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre. She is the driving force behind the organisation's long-term planning, guiding it towards its goals of creating a healthy, stable dog population and eliminating rabies in Kathmandu. As the public persona of the KAT Centre, Ms. Salter conducts much of the organisation's fundraising and donor relations.

In 2010 Salter received the prestigious "Extraordinary Commitment and Achievement award" presented by Humane Society International. In the New Years Honours List published at the end of 2012 Jan received an MBE For services to animal welfare in Nepal