In these dark times while the humans are struggling for their existence, it is no less a challenge for the pets and stray animals.
The novel corona virus has infected more than 10,15,728 people across the globe, killing more than 53,202. But it’s not just that humans are impacted by the spread of the pandemic. Reports have been coming in that the animals are equally impacted due to this outbreak highlighting the vulnerable existence animals endure at the whim of humans.
The plight of companion animals has become an emerging animal rights issue since the corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak, with reports of abandoned animals now starving or being killed. A rumour has been going around that this deadly virus can spread through animals as well. The fear of the pet owners is further pushing them to abandon these vulnerable beings and, in some cases, even kill them. Further, due to the lock downs in most part of the globe the stray animals are starving due to no access to food and the absence of the good Samaritans who used to take care of these animals.
Advice from World Health Organisation for Animal Health:
The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has advised that “to date, there is no evidence that companion animals can spread the disease. Therefore, there is no justification in taking measures against companion animals which may compromise their welfare. There is no evidence that dogs play a role in the spread of this human disease or that they become sick. Further studies are needed to understand if and how different animals could be affected by COVID-19 virus.”
Back at home things are not looking up either. Stray animal care givers are finding it difficult to provide the necessities which they earlier used to provide.
Damayanti Sen, an animal activist from West Bengal feeds more than 270 strays in a day. She informed that, “Due to lock down reaching the grocery stores to get the essentials becomes difficult. Every time I step out, I have to carry the letter issued by Animal Welfare Board of India for security purposes.” Further she added, “My daily expense to support these animals is Rs 2000. I am finding it difficult to arrange the same. Now I have started crowd funding. Initially the fund flow was good but now it is drying up. I have to mostly rely on friends and family members to raise these funds.”
The closure of restaurants and the crackdown on roadside stalls have robbed the animals of another fount of food. Many of them survive on scraps from eateries. Pulasto Dutta Gupta, owner of Charlie’s Healthy Bite based out of Kolkata is already observing an increase in hungry animals. He informed India2India that,” Ever since the local eateries and the road side shacks have closed down the number of animals going hungry have increased.” He added that, “Even with regular feeding only one time of their food is covered.”
To tackle such situations communities are getting together to help out these strays. Mr. Godfrey Colaco, a resident of Naigaon, Mumbai with a group of active volunteers have been making efforts to feed these strays and birds visiting their community. Mr. Rohan Panja, an animal lover from Kolkata has always been preparing special food for strays and have been distributing across is local area during lunch time. He is still continuing the same. “The lockdown can’t stop me from reaching to my loved ones who need my help right now the most”, he said.
While individuals are making such efforts, organisations like Humane Society International/India is also putting their efforts in more focussed manner. Keren Nazareth, interim director for HSI/India’s companion animals program spoke to India2India, “Through our 320 Abhay Sankalp signed up societies we are supporting community members to access feeder passes, responding to emergency treatments for dogs and currently are identifying areas such as market places where dogs are not being fed because of the lockdown. Our community members are extending themselves to reach these areas and have shown tremendous compassion by feeding dogs and even donating food for those dogs who have no one at the moment. We are in the process of identifying those dogs that no one can reach out to and are working out strategies as to how to get food and water to them.” HSI/ India is reaching out to the strays in Dehradun, Vododara and Lucknow.
While these good hearted Samaritans are handling this situation at the best of their abilities and the limited resources available at their disposal, we can also contribute in our small way.
What can you do to help ?
- Keep a bowl of water outside your community gate
- Keep a separate bowl for food outside the community gate
- Every community member can volunteer once a week to keep their left overs and biscuits in the food bowl
- Animal lovers can create volunteering groups and demarcate areas for distributing food over a wider geographical area
- People can also contribute by donating small amounts to the animal NGOs and volunteering groups to help them buy supplies