The Delhi Government's decision to pay a compensation of Rs. 5000 for loss of animal life in the riots in Delhi has been welcomed by animal lovers. It's a good start and people are happy that at least the government has thought about the animals.
The beneficiary in this case would be the owners of livestock like goats, hens and cattles and definitely not the stray dogs because they have no owner to claim their compensation. They are community dogs but the community just doesn't care for them.
The caregiver in India on an average feed around 5 to 15 dogs daily. Some feed twice a day and some just once either in the morning or in the evening. Many even help in getting the dogs sterilized.
But what does the caregiver get in return?
Abuses, assaults and constant hatred by their own neighbours and the RWA.
Many caregivers even have to fight with their own family members to feed the dogs. Their families do not appreciate or approve of their work.
Is it really worth so much sacrifice? These selfless beings have no help from the society nor from the government.
Lawyers, judges, policeman and politicians are four categories of people who no common man of India likes to confront.
Not all are bad but we have seen that some of them misuse the power they have.
There have been instances in the past where these people have used their power to harass the caregivers and to relocate the dogs.
Isn't that shameful?
The supreme Court which is the highest court in India has already made it very clear that no one can remove the dogs from their location and their population may be controlled only by means of the ABC programme then why is there so much ignorance?
Shouldn't the lawyers, judges, policemen and the politicians be the first ones to implement the ABC programme in their areas.
They are the law enforcement bodies, the guardians of law.
Nothing can be more painful for a country when its guardians of law are responsible for breaking it's law.
They may not like dogs which of course is ones personal choice but shouldn't they assist the caregivers and help them in their noble endeavour as this is what the law says?
The AWBI (Animal welfare board of India) has the Animal Protection Laws for the guidance of the police, HAWO....etc on it's website but how many Indians are aware about these laws?
http://www.awbi.org/awbi-pdf/APL.pdf
The AWBI is issuing caretaker card to dog feeders but how many feeders are even aware of it?
And what's the point of having such cards? Why divide the society into two halves?
Dog feeders with cards and dog feeders without cards. And then the RWA and the police will again bully those who do not have cards and stop them from feeding the dogs.
Anyway even if the cards have to be issued then circulars should be sent to every municipal corporation so that they may tell people about the caretaker cards. Most of the caregivers are uneducated and many are not computer savvy. They will never visit the AWBI website and hence will never apply for the caretaker card.
http://www.awbi.org/awbi-pdf/caretakers.pdf
Also there is no point of having the Animal protection laws just on the website because no one knows about these laws. The majority of the Indian population is unaware about such laws including the caregivers and the police.
It is very important that the AWBI send the laws to every municipal corporation and ask them to send a copy of these laws to every police station and the RWA of their area.
The Man-dog and Man-man conflict is more so because of ignorance about the laws and ignorance about the dog behaviour.
Please watch this video and you will know that the dogs are no threat to children. The problem is with their parenting and our fearful attitude towards them. And this is true for all the countries of the world.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/173466923311589/permalink/522551625069782/