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Hyderabad’s Covid-19 warriors come together to feed starving street dogs amid lockdown
Several animal lovers in Hyderabad have been taking care of street dogs that have been starving during the lockdown period.
Earlier this month, while B Manohar, a senior bureaucrat in the Telangana government was on his morning walk on the campus of Osmania University closer to his residence, he noticed carcasses of a few stray dogs along the walking path.
“It was a pathetic scene. I realised that these canines are dying of starvation as no food was available to them due to the closure of university hostels and canteens on the account of the lockdown to avoid the spread of Covid-19,” Manohar, managing director of Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation, said.
These dogs used to survive on the leftover food from the canteens and even university employees and students in the hostels used to provide them with food. Now, there is no such facility, resulting in their starvation, he pointed out.
From the very next day, Manohar and others who take a morning stroll at the campus started carrying leftover food from their homes to feed the dogs. “Somehow, it has given me immense satisfaction,” Manohar said.
Like Manohar, several animal lovers in Hyderabad have been taking care of street dogs that have been starving during the lockdown period.
“For poor people and daily-wage workers who are suffering due to the lockdown, the government is supplying food one way or the other. Several NGOs are also working round-the-clock to supply food for them. But not many are bothered about street dogs which are not getting any food due to the closure of restaurants and hotels,” R Vasantha, a scientist from Prof Jayashankar Agricultural University, Rajendra Nagar, said.
Vasantha, an animal lover associated with the Kindness Club at Attapur, has also been supplying food to nearly 250-300 dogs every day, along with her friends in the club, during the lockdown period.
“Many people brought to my notice that scores of dogs and puppies are dying due to lack of food. So, we have been supplying nutritious feed to these dogs,” she said.
The food for dogs is made of cooked rice mixed with milk, dog-food power, eggs and soya granules. “Our volunteers carry the food in buckets and place it in earthen or cement bowls at around 8 pm and sometimes during the early hours of the day. We are happy to see these street dogs developing a lot of attachment to all of us,” Vasantha said.
The dog lovers also visit far off places after duly taking permission from the police to supply food to the dogs in those areas.
“We have three vehicles – two for carrying food to street dogs and another to provide medicines for dogs which have fallen sick during the lockdown period. We also collect dog feed from good Samaritans, including rice, soya, breads and biscuits,” said Dattatreya Joshi, convenor of People for Animals, a voluntary organisation working on animal welfare.
He said, like humans, street dogs too have emotions. “In situations like the present lockdown, they too are suffering and starving without food like the poor people. We cannot ignore their sufferings and let us do whatever we can to mitigate their hunger,” Joshi said.
According to him, there are more than a lakh street dogs within GHMC limits. Since the NGOs cannot reach out to all parts of the city, he appeals to the people to take care of the needs of the dogs in their respective areas.
The Cyberabad police have also joined hands with these NGO activists in serving street dogs. According to the Society for Cyberabad Security Council, a joint initiative of the Cyberabad police with the IT industry, the police and NGO activists are feeding 1500 street dogs daily in one part of the city or the other. They also purchased 300 pots which are placed in different areas and filled with water for the street dogs.
Cyberabad police commissioner V C Sajjanar said dogs become aggressive due to the lack of water and food. “We need to shower the same affection on beings who cannot speak. A total of 100 volunteers are working for the cause,” he said.
