Yesterday on 2nd December a mother lost her pup. The pup was run over by a car. As per the animal laws the driver has to be punished and people can report the case and get it registered with the police but all this is only on paper. 

Firstly majority do not know the law and the worse is that the police too do not cooperate when people go to get the case registered. The culprits are never punished .And the same people indulge in same crime again and again. Every minute a dog is run over by a car, bus or a truck on the roads of India. The dog lies on the road bleeding to death. Rarely they are picked up by some bravehearts  and taken to the hospital. These bravehearts are generally caregivers or dog feeders.

Shanti (M-8929307936) the caregiver met the mother and her two pups few months back when she went to Yashoda hospital  which is situated in Kaushambi, Ghaziabad (Delhi NCR). She had gone to get her old parents treated in the hospital. During her visit she befriended the dogs staying in the hospital compound. 

According to her there are around 100 dogs living in the compound. Most of them are not sterilized. There are around twenty small puppies and the hospital guards have told her that many puppies have died by falling into open drains which surrounds the hospital compound. Shanti even spoke to the hospital in charge and asked to get the drains covered but no action has been taken by them. A dog's life means nothing to the hospital. 

Shanti on her own has sent around seven dogs for Sterilization.  She is also feeding the dogs. She just couldn't see them starve to death. Shanti is staying in Mayur Vihar, Delhi which is around 5 kilometer from the hospital. Imagine the kind of commitment and sacrifice she is making on her part to help the dogs. But unfortunately the society and the government and even the hospital authority do not thank her. That's the fate of almost all the caregivers and dog feeders in India.

Many times she has been asked not to feed the dogs as she does not belong to the area but that has never deterred her from feeding the dogs. Now even the guards of the hospital know her well. She often gets a call from the guards when a dog falls sick. She provides the dogs with medicine and even calls a para vet if needed.

Yesterday it was really sad for her to find one pup crushed to death by a car in the parking area of the hospital. 

People just run over and do not even stop to check if the dog is dead or alive.

They just don't realize that a mother be it human or a dog both cry for their lost babies. Also it pains to be run over. Small pups are no different than a human child. Being run over is not enjoyed by pups. They too feel the pain and the trauma of an accident.

This incident could have been avoided had the dog was sterilized. What's the point of having babies when they all eventually die of starvation, sickness or accidents.

Why doesn't the hospital get the dogs sterilized? 

Why can't the hospital staff provide at least one time meal for the dogs?

If one caregiver can give food to so many dogs then is it so difficult for the entire hospital to provide food to it's dogs?

But are the hospital authorities even aware about community dogs?

Are they aware that relocation or removal of dogs from their compound is a punishable offence?

Are they aware about the ABC (animal birth control) programme?

The answer to all the above questions is no.

There is no awareness about dog laws and the ABC program in India. Majority do not know them. 

Also there are  no guidelines for welfare of stray dogs in hospitals.

Had there been any guidelines the hospitals would have definitely followed.

What is the Animal welfare board of India (AWBI) waiting for?

Why does it not frame the guideline?

Is it waiting for a national emergency to occur when dogs will multiply in number and start attacking the patients and the hospital staff?

It's high time the AWBI drafted guidelines for dog welfare in hospitals.

Today Shanti is doing what the hospital authorities should have been doing but not all hospitals are as lucky as Yashoda. Not all have caregivers like Shanti.

And in the absence of guidelines it will be just caregivers who will keep helping these voiceless souls. And it's indeed a very tough and a thankless job for them.