With all this Prolonged Lock Down, Beggars & Stray Dogs in City will NOT Die of Covid-19 but of Starvation?

With all this Prolonged Lock Down, Beggars & Stray Dogs in City will NOT Die of Covid-19 but of Starvation?

 Mangaluru: With the City looking without human beings, all the stray dogs in Mangaluru City are wondering whether the humans have been picked up by MCC and taken away in their vans”- that was just on the lighter side of vein. But coming back on a serious note, all these stray dogs may be wondering what happened to all the food that they used get served in front of the restaurants, mobile canteens, meat and chicken stalls etc. The situation is very pathetic looking at the condition of these stray dogs who have not eaten food for the last few days- and you could make out from their eyes and faces. So sad and unbelievable- and the district administration, MCC and probably animal activists have not done anything in this regard.

With a rising number of positive coronavirus cases, several parts of India have gone into lock-down, including Mangaluru. And while humans have been finding myriad ways to deal with the lock down, stray animals might end up becoming an unforeseen casualty of the lock down. Thousands of stray dogs in our city depend on daily markets, restaurants and local good Samaritans who feed strays. But with coronavirus sending people into isolation and public establishments shutting down, strays have a hard time finding food. Apart from these stray animals, even destitute and beggars are starving with no one serving them, since restaurants and other eateries are closed. And does any of our authorities know about it.

And when such si the present situation in Mangaluru, it would be a good gesture from Mangaloreans to feed as many strays and beggars as possible in their areas and whenever possible to help the animals and the destitute survive. And you should know that Street dogs, cows, and birds can neither get nor give coronavirus to humans. However, in the event of a lock down, if they are not fed, many will die, creating another kind of a problem. There should many animal lovers in Mangaluru, and therefore, it is the need of the hour that at least you all come forward and feed these hungry four-legged, and also the beggars, if you come across. This morning Team Mangalorean met one Shivappa sleeping in a bus shelter, who had not eaten for the last two days, except for water he could get from the water faucet at Milagres Church. And since I was on my way back from supermarket, I opened my bag and handed Shivappa, a half litre packet of Nandini milk and half loaf of bread-which did put a smile on his face.

While going little further, I came across three stray dogs, which looked weak, with their sad faces and eyes- and I was able to feed them only with biscuits and part of the remaining loaf of bread- but they made some fuss in eating the biscuits and bread, because they are used to left-over food, waste meat products etc. I did what I could for the dogs. Just like we humans need our daily essentials, the district administration should allot times for designated workers or volunteers to provide food and water to strays since it is also an “essential service”. They should also run awareness campaigns for the public to adopt feeding street animals in such kind of lock down. Law enforcement agencies may also be directed to see that animals do not suffer due to hunger during the COVID-19 lock-down.

Since the novel coronavirus outbreak which has killed over 15,000 people globally in just a matter of months, animals have been in news for a variety of reasons. First, there was fear among people about the virus transmitting through animals like pet dogs. The rumours led to many in China reportedly abandoning their pets for fear of catching the virus. In countries like India, rumours about coronavirus spreading through non-vegetarian food such as chicken and other meat led to mass culling of chickens in several instances. While world leaders, health experts and epidemiologists are doing their best to find a way to prevent or at least slow down the spread of the pandemic, it is important to remember the health and safety of animals that depend on humans for their survival.

Team Mangalorean kindly request our readers and their relatives and friends, to come forward and feed the stray animals, especially dogs, and beggars in your area, so that they wont suffer out of starvation. Your kind gesture will be very much appreciated. If I and my brother could feed at least 10 stray dogs (which have become regulars in the morning at the house gate) in our Kadri area, You too can do it- and YES, WE ALL CAN DO IT TO SAVE THEM FROM HUNGER & DEATH!