On 8th February 2020 an email was sent to the Chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India to frame guidelines for stray dog management in educational institutions of India. A copy of the letter has been sent to the Prime Minister, PMO and the Environment Minister. The content of the letter is given below:

 
Dr. O.P. Chaudhary (IFS)

Chairman

Animal Welfare Board of India

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,

Government of India

Dear Sir,

Greetings!

You must be aware that there is a huge stray dog population in the educational institutions of India. I being a college teacher myself have witnessed the dismal conditions they live in college campuses.

There are some voluntary feeders (students and college staff) in few institutions but they face opposition and no support from the college administration.  Few brave hearts stand against the opposition and don’t give up but many of them give up. 

There are institutions where there are no dog feeders at all. The dogs feed on garbage and the leftover food of the canteen. They keep reproducing and live a sickly and miserable life. They mostly die of starvation, road accidents or diseases.

The college administration does nothing for these helpless souls and when they find someone feeding them then they try to drive away the dogs from the campus and threaten the feeders of dire consequences if they continue feeding.

Under prevention of cruelty to animals act relocation or removal of dogs is an offence.  So as per law, dogs in educational institutions cannot be removed.  The only way out is to manage the dogs well by getting them sterilized, vaccinated and giving them a healthy life by giving them food and water on regular basis.

Being a teacher I have witnessed all this myself. I am quite glad to say that most of the colleges in Delhi University have volunteers (students and staff) who feed the dogs of their campus. But as it is voluntary therefore the element of sustainability is absolutely missing. The feeders often get sad thinking that once they leave college or go on long leaves then who will take care of the dogs? There are other issues like who will get the dogs sterilized? And how?

The students of Motilal Nehru College started a project called Parivartan (under Enactus) in the year 2014 to bring a positive change in the lives of stray dogs living within their campus. They devised a model called DESI which stands for duty to sterilize, empathize and immunize stray dogs. They themselves took the responsibility of getting all their dogs sterilized and immunized against rabies by collaborating with PAWS an NGO. They feed the dogs daily by making groups and bear the expenses themselves.

Another Delhi University college is Lady Shriram College. Here the students have introduced a concept called campus care under NSS. They have not only taken care of their own campus dogs but also adopted few dogs from outside their campus. They have collaborated with Friendicoes an NGO which helps them in getting the dogs sterilized and immunized against rabies.

But unfortunately not all colleges of Delhi University are taking care of dogs in such a sustainable manner.  Unlike Delhi University most of the universities and schools in India do not encourage dog feeding. There is complete lack of awareness about stray dog rules and dog behavior. Hence, there is an urgent need to frame guidelines for stray dog management in educational institutions. 

I wrote a letter to the Chairman, AWBI for framing guidelines for dog welfare in educational institutions in India in the year 2015. The then chairman,  Retd. Maj Gen (Dr.) Kharb gave me full assurance that very soon a guideline will be framed but then he was soon replaced by Dr. Gupta as the chairman.

Thereafter I wrote twice to the AWBI but never received any communication from them. I also wrote to the environment ministry twice but till date I have not received any communication from them either.

As a caregiver myself I have seen a lot of loopholes and weaknesses in the way the ABC programme is being run by the municipal corporation in India. There is an urgent need to bring right changes in it and do away with the old system. Also the board should not allow states to make policies regarding dogs on their own. As there is one law so also there should be one policy for dogs to be followed by all the states in India. Recently in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad and Lucknow have come out with the most obnoxious and anti-dog registration policies.  Such policies will only lead to dog abandonment and discourage people from pet keeping. Policies are often made by mayors, councilors, commissioners, corporation officers and may be few members from animal welfare NGOs. Majority of them know nothing about dogs and the problems and loopholes in the system. They are not competent to make policies. But they are making and even implementing them. Honestly they are all anti dogs and anti-caregivers.

The board should immediately restrict the municipal corporation all over India from making any kind of guideline or policy related with any animal. 

The board should be the only body which should formulate guidelines and policies relating to animals in India whether it be dogs, cows, cats, monkeys etc. 

I am enclosing a rough framework for preparing guidelines for dog management in educational institutions in India. Hope this helps.

Also I hope this time the board will not disappoint me and without any further delay come out with a robust and much needed guideline. Any further delay will only create man dog conflict in educational institutions in India. Unfortunately it has already begun in many institutions.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,