A reporter (M+91 88265 61324) posted the following message on animal WhatsApp groups:
"I received a call from 2 reporters, one from Faridabad and another from Batra Hospital (Delhi).
Faridabad case- The mother of the puppies met with an accident, a car ran her over. She left behind 5 puppies homeless.
Batra case- A mother and her 8 puppies were in an open ground in cold. Due to the cold, 3 puppies are dead.
On the 17th of December, We have shifted the remaining puppies from Faridabad and Batra hospital to a shelter name House of Angles Run by Ms.Monica along with the mother. They will live in the shelter till adoption. After 2 months, the mother dog will also be sterilized.....
Address of Shelter:RZ-78,B-Block Baba Haridas Enclave, Jhadoda New Delhi-110072
We want to help the shelter by paying 6,000 and 1500 for sterilization charge and 1500 charge for ambulance.............
Total amount: Rs.9000
Any kind soul who is willing to contribute can pay.
Thank you"
Such messages are very common on animal welfare groups. It is the caregivers who are taking care of the dogs on the streets of India. The dogs reproduce and the caregivers take care of the mother and her babies. Mother dogs dying in road accidents is quite common in India and the helpless puppies dying thereafter is nothing unusual. Few fortunate ones survive due to the intervention of caregivers who do everything possible to save the precious lives.
All such incidents of dogs giving birth to pups on every nook and corner of Delhi NCR clearly shows a huge disconnect between the municipal corporations and the caregivers.
It is the job of the MCD to get the street dogs sterilized but are the dogs getting sterilized in the manner they should be?
Is there any mechanism devised by the MCD to know about unsterilized dogs? It is the caregivers who know about the dogs living in their vicinity whether it be a residential area or a non residential area then why aren't the caregivers contacted by the MCD? Why till now no mechanism has been built to rope in the caregivers in the ABC program?
The only way the MCD comes to know of dogs in an area is when they get complaints from residents and the RWA members. Once complaints start pouring in of dogs biting, dogs chasing vehicles, dogs barking and dogs giving birth to pups the MCD sends it's dog van. The van catches the unsterilized dogs and leave the sterilized ones. The unsterilized dogs are then taken to the ABC centre where they are sterilized and then dropped back by the centre to the location from where they were picked.
This is the random, unsystematic and complaint centric approach that the MCD and all the other municipal corporations of India have been following to implement the ABC program in India.
Christmas is a festival of joy which teaches the human race kindness, compassion and forgiveness towards one and all.
The caregivers of India truly celebrate Christmas by extending their helping hand to the most neglected, deplored and hated being on the streets of India. The world calls them the man's best friend.
When will we Indians and our municipal corporations start treating them as man"s best friend?
When will the Municipal corporations use a dog centric approach in imlementing the ABC program? The one which shows compassion and kindness towards them.