Young students between the age of 17 and 20 are doing what people in their 30s, 40s and 50s fail to do. While the latter shoo the dogs, beat them and hate them, the former are loving them, feeding them and caring for them.
Students of Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi started Project Parivartan, under Enactus to bring a change in the lives of stray dogs living within their campus. They followed a three step process called DESI to make the lives of dogs living in their campus better. DESI stands for duty to empathize, sterilize and immunize stray dogs. They got all their dogs sterilized by collaborating directly with an NGO PAWS. They feed their dogs daily and take care of all their medical problems. They have around nine dogs living in their campus. The students are now trying to bring a positive change in the lives of dogs living in other campuses and residential colonies.
To know more about their good work you may contact Aditi (M- 9801719297). You may also go to the links below:
https://instagram.com/project.desi?igshid=qr8uef78x5ab
https://www.facebook.com/enactusmnc/
Lady Shriram College, University of Delhi is another college which has made a remarkable difference in the lives of stray dogs. They have given a good life to 10 stray dogs who are living in their campus. They call their initiative Campus Care which is working under NSS ( National Service Scheme). They did it with the help of Friendicoes an NGO which helps in dog sterilization.
To know more about the good work they are doing. Please contact Tanya ((M-8853423634)
There are students and staff of many other colleges who are feeding the dogs of their campuses voluntarily without being a part of any project or NSS.
Some of those colleges are Shri Venkateshwara, Ramlal Anand, South Campus, Bhagat Singh, Hansraj, Kirori Mal, Hindu, Khalsa, Ramjas, St Stephens and the list goes on......
But not all college students and staff are as lucky as the students and staff in the colleges mentioned above.
They helplessly watch their four legged friends suffer and die. They are stopped by the administration to feed them. Many times they are told that they come to college to study and not to feed dogs. So they better do what they are expected.
Some students and staff are brave enough to oppose the adminstration but not all have the guts to do it. They silently witness all kinds of cruelty happening to their friends. Right from starving them, shooing them away to beating them.
Lady Shriram College has done a commendable job of introducing the campus care programme as part of their NSS.
NSS ( National Service Scheme) is mandatory in all colleges of India. The students are suppose to undertake all kinds of social service activities under NSS. The kind of activities in which they are mostly involved are: blood donation camps, raising donations in cash or kind for the poor, orphans, homeless and victims of natural disasters like earthquake, flood and drought.
It's quite an irony that the colleges are involving their students in social work activities whose stakeholders are outside their college. They are doing nothing to reduce the pain and suffering of the stakeholders who are living in their own campuses.
There are thousands of dogs living in many college campuses in India. Not all are being looked after and not all have caregivers to feed them and to sterilize them.
It's time that the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) came out with a guideline to manage stray dogs living within educational institutions in India.
In the absence of such guidelines there are many students and staff who are finding it difficult to feed the dogs of their campus. Also the ones who are feeding are doing it voluntarily and they are afraid that once they leave college who will take their place? Their is an element of sustainability which is missing in voluntary feeding of dogs.
Hence, feeding and Sterilization of dogs should become a part of NSS and the colleges who do it should be given additional points during their NAAC Accreditation.