essay on feeding stray dogs
Answers
The coronavirus lockdown has not only forced the entire world indoors, but has put India’s four legged strays in extreme distress. Unavailability of food and water in the scorching summer is impacting stray animals all over the country.
With restaurants and eateries downing shutters and food trucks parked at homes, strays have been struggling to find food to kill their hunger. They have nothing to eat, not even leftovers that they always relied on.
“Dogs who do not have dedicated feeders suffer because even production of garbage from eateries has stopped and meat shops which were their favorite place to hover around have shut,” said Anindita Bhadra, who heads a Dog Lab at IISER-Kolkata.
Dogs eating a mixture of milk, bread and kibble
Expressing concern over their plight, she said that weight loss is not the only problem, scarcity of food could trigger competitiveness leading to increasing aggression among strays. There are high chances of these animals could change their normal behaviour.
“Once the lockdown is lifted the dog-human conflict will possibly increase,” she added.
Realising the impact, animal rights activists and NGOs have geared up to feed stray dogs and cats wherever possible. “Our team is feeding over a 1,000 cats and dogs as the lockdown continues. We have been preparing over 500 kg of food for them daily with four ambulances covering a few parts of Delhi,” said Geeta Seshamani, Vice President of Friendicoes.
These dogs and cats have been depending on a whole community of friendly humans. Not having anybody around for so long is quite stressful for them. Apart from feeding stray animals humans have also played a huge role in taking care of their well-being.
Friendicoes has been experiencing an influx of animals in worse conditions than usual. “Most of them have fractures or maggot wounds, partly because the army of dog feeders who would have noticed and brought them in for treatment,” she told CNBC-TV18.
Most animals go unnoticed and don’t get medical help. The organisation treats about 35 cases a day which include strays, abandoned pets and pets accompanied by owners. A dedicated team of veterinarians has been treating animals to help ease the pain.
# Capricorn answer
Most of the population looks at stray dogs as a menace and a threat. Just a few unfortunate events of dog bites are enough to turn people against stray dogs and perceive them all viciously. In all probability, a dog does not bite unless provoked, sick or in pain. In fact, according to a study conducted by The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists published in Psychology Today, sometimes dogs might not even prefer to interact physically. On the other hand, dogs are often expressive and social animals, eager to ‘talk’ to us, provided we hear them out.