You are a verified animal lover if you can't resist patting the dog you recently encountered on the street, you have converted the entrance of your house/building into a dog feeding site, and you wouldn't mind punching the person who behaves cruelly with the strays for just some ridiculous enjoyment. In these tough times amid coronavirus, everything got induced negatively and so like the lives of stray animals when a ton of them didn't even have enough food to survive.This was the period when numerous individuals and organisations took the charge and managed the situation to an extent but that's not sufficient for the number of strays we have in our country.Dogs are mostly dependent on the food thrown in the garbage beside the streets, and due to the rapid growth of the urban areas, roads are being cleaned and rinsed which results in nominal availability of open litter. So we need to draw a moment from our daily schedule and try to feed the little darlings out there, every night possibly.Here is a list of dog-friendly foods that you can feed them regularly, as sometimes our normal cooked food could severely make them ill without even getting it noticed initially.
1. Try giving them boiled food and strictly evade anything that is heavily fried and spicy.
2. Avoid giving sweets particularly chocolates
3. Dog Biscuits are the most loved and convenient safe food for dogs.
4. Simple boiled Rice and leftover roti will be a saviour for a lot of strays.
5. Leftover vegetable cuts will be perfect for the cows out there.Stray animals in India further adds up, unclaimed cows, neglected horses and mules.
Here comes the role of the government that should evaluate the numbers of these animals locally to make shelters and treatment centres to ensure there is proper medication and healing of the animals taking place. Most of the state authorities have already started doing this.It is also remarkably okay if you are the type of person who loves the strays and genuinely cares for them but from a distance without any physical touch, precisely to be safe for yourself and your loved ones. You’ll neither be disreputable nor will blow up the social media, fighting for their rights.
This concern is reasonably valid as with every practice there comes a positive as well as a negative aspect. And after having a look at the graph of rabies and dog bite cases in India, it unknowingly generates a fear, which precludes us not to be always surrounded by dogs and makes us hesitate in doing good to them.Unfortunately, we have seen many videos, photos and live examples where people use inhumane methods such as poisoning and physical harassment to seek eradication from the street animals which are contemplated as an absolute nuisance to them.
Scepticism and ignorance have conditioned plenty of Indian citizens and administrators so deeply that they are not proficient enough to see that there could be other generous and scientific procedures to reduce the population of stray animals such as Capture, Vaccinate, Sterilize and Release method.One of the five internationally recognised freedoms for animals comprises “freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition”. This is recognised in the country’s law books: Sections 3 and 11 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, pulls from the Constitution’s Article 51A(g), which says it is the fundamental duty of every citizen “to have kindness for living creatures”.Rabies is a genuine problem when it comes to India's street dogs. Although the numbers are widely debated, the World Health Organization estimates that rabies kills about 20,000 people a year in India. That's 36 per cent of rabies deaths worldwide.And you need to be cautious and take protective measures while feeding and loving the beautiful loyal creatures on the street.
Here is a list of a few you could interpret:
1. Build trust with them as their past could be unusual from others and might unintentionally provoke them.
2. Assign a designated spot to feed them every day at the same time.
3. Never throw food from your running vehicle.
4. Never feed foods that could be allergic to them.
5. Use boundary walls and vacant plots to feed.
6. Try giving them food at the night.
7. Do not feed them in crowded neighbourhoods.
8. Don't over-feed them, understand their diet.
9. Give them water too if possible.
10. Be consistent and lovable.
11. Sanitize your hands if you get in physical touch with any of the strays.
(Views expressed in Citizen Junction columns are that of the author and solely of the author. Jaano Junction only provides the platform to publish your thoughts, opinions and concerns).
