STOP the relocation of community dogs from Goa's beaches | Save Goa Dogs
The Issue
SAVE GOA'S BEACH DOGS. STOP THEIR RELOCATION.
Goa's beaches are their home. They deserve protection, not displacement.
Imagine spending your entire life in one place, only to be taken away because someone decides you no longer belong there.
That is the threat facing Goa's community dogs.
Reports indicate that the Goa Tourism Department has proposed the removal of community dogs from beaches, giving people just seven days to adopt them before they are taken away and relocated to shelters.
Seven days to adopt them. A lifetime spent calling Goa home.
These dogs have lived on Goa's beaches for years. They know their territories, the people who feed them, the fishermen, the shack owners and the local communities who care for them.
They are not disposable. And they should not have to lose their homes to make Goa more appealing to tourists because the irony is that tourists love them.
1. RELOCATION IS NOT THE ANSWER. THE LAW MATTERS.
The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, establish a framework for the humane management of community dogs through sterilisation, anti-rabies vaccination and their return to their original localities.
The government's proposed relocation must be examined against these rules.
Dogs cannot simply be treated as unwanted objects to be removed from public view.
2. WHERE ARE THESE SHELTERS? AND WHY SHOULD THESE DOGS BE SENT THERE?
The government must first answer a fundamental question:
WHERE ARE THE SHELTERS?
Where are these facilities located? How many dogs can they accommodate? Who will feed them? Who will provide medical care? What safeguards will prevent overcrowding, neglect and suffering?
There has been no adequate public demonstration that sufficient, suitable facilities exist to accommodate these dogs humanely.
But our demand is not for more shelters. Our demand is that these dogs should not be uprooted from their homes in the first place.
A beach dog who has lived freely within a familiar community should not be condemned to confinement simply because that beach is also a tourist destination.
3. GOA WOULDN'T BE GOA WITHOUT ITS DOGS.
I keep going back to Goa for many reasons. One of the biggest is its dogs.
The friendly dogs who greet you on the beach. The ones who sleep peacefully outside shacks. The ones who recognise familiar faces and form bonds with the people around them.
I've met tourists from across the world who have fallen in love with these dogs. For many of us, they are part of what makes Goa so special.
And speaking personally, as a woman, I have felt far more unsafe around certain men in Goa than I ever have around its community dogs.
These dogs have made me feel safe in places where people sometimes haven't.
If the concern is tourist safety, let's address it comprehensively instead of treating the removal of community dogs as the solution.
4. HUMANE SOLUTIONS EXIST. DISPLACEMENT IS NOT ONE OF THEM.
Instead of removing community dogs, the government should invest in effective, sustained animal welfare measures.
We call for:
An immediate halt to the proposed blanket relocation of community dogs from Goa's beaches.
Compliance with the ABC Rules, 2023, including lawful sterilisation, vaccination and locality-based return.
Large-scale, sustained sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination programmes supported by veterinary professionals and animal welfare organisations.
Transparency and accountability in all animal capture and welfare operations, with no arbitrary displacement or confinement of healthy community dogs.
5. THESE DOGS HAVE NO VOICE. WE DO.
These dogs do not understand government policies, seven-day deadlines or why the beaches they've always called home might suddenly be taken away from them.
They know where they sleep. They know who feeds them. They know where they belong.
Their home is not a shelter. Their home is Goa.
We urge the Chief Minister of Goa, the Tourism Department and all relevant authorities to stop the proposed blanket relocation and commit to humane, lawful and sustainable management of community dogs.
SIGN THIS PETITION. SAVE GOA'S BEACH DOGS.
#SaveGoaDogs #StopRelocation #GoaIsTheirHomeToo
2,292
The Issue
SAVE GOA'S BEACH DOGS. STOP THEIR RELOCATION.
Goa's beaches are their home. They deserve protection, not displacement.
Imagine spending your entire life in one place, only to be taken away because someone decides you no longer belong there.
That is the threat facing Goa's community dogs.
Reports indicate that the Goa Tourism Department has proposed the removal of community dogs from beaches, giving people just seven days to adopt them before they are taken away and relocated to shelters.
Seven days to adopt them. A lifetime spent calling Goa home.
These dogs have lived on Goa's beaches for years. They know their territories, the people who feed them, the fishermen, the shack owners and the local communities who care for them.
They are not disposable. And they should not have to lose their homes to make Goa more appealing to tourists because the irony is that tourists love them.
1. RELOCATION IS NOT THE ANSWER. THE LAW MATTERS.
The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, establish a framework for the humane management of community dogs through sterilisation, anti-rabies vaccination and their return to their original localities.
The government's proposed relocation must be examined against these rules.
Dogs cannot simply be treated as unwanted objects to be removed from public view.
2. WHERE ARE THESE SHELTERS? AND WHY SHOULD THESE DOGS BE SENT THERE?
The government must first answer a fundamental question:
WHERE ARE THE SHELTERS?
Where are these facilities located? How many dogs can they accommodate? Who will feed them? Who will provide medical care? What safeguards will prevent overcrowding, neglect and suffering?
There has been no adequate public demonstration that sufficient, suitable facilities exist to accommodate these dogs humanely.
But our demand is not for more shelters. Our demand is that these dogs should not be uprooted from their homes in the first place.
A beach dog who has lived freely within a familiar community should not be condemned to confinement simply because that beach is also a tourist destination.
3. GOA WOULDN'T BE GOA WITHOUT ITS DOGS.
I keep going back to Goa for many reasons. One of the biggest is its dogs.
The friendly dogs who greet you on the beach. The ones who sleep peacefully outside shacks. The ones who recognise familiar faces and form bonds with the people around them.
I've met tourists from across the world who have fallen in love with these dogs. For many of us, they are part of what makes Goa so special.
And speaking personally, as a woman, I have felt far more unsafe around certain men in Goa than I ever have around its community dogs.
These dogs have made me feel safe in places where people sometimes haven't.
If the concern is tourist safety, let's address it comprehensively instead of treating the removal of community dogs as the solution.
4. HUMANE SOLUTIONS EXIST. DISPLACEMENT IS NOT ONE OF THEM.
Instead of removing community dogs, the government should invest in effective, sustained animal welfare measures.
We call for:
An immediate halt to the proposed blanket relocation of community dogs from Goa's beaches.
Compliance with the ABC Rules, 2023, including lawful sterilisation, vaccination and locality-based return.
Large-scale, sustained sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination programmes supported by veterinary professionals and animal welfare organisations.
Transparency and accountability in all animal capture and welfare operations, with no arbitrary displacement or confinement of healthy community dogs.
5. THESE DOGS HAVE NO VOICE. WE DO.
These dogs do not understand government policies, seven-day deadlines or why the beaches they've always called home might suddenly be taken away from them.
They know where they sleep. They know who feeds them. They know where they belong.
Their home is not a shelter. Their home is Goa.
We urge the Chief Minister of Goa, the Tourism Department and all relevant authorities to stop the proposed blanket relocation and commit to humane, lawful and sustainable management of community dogs.
SIGN THIS PETITION. SAVE GOA'S BEACH DOGS.
#SaveGoaDogs #StopRelocation #GoaIsTheirHomeToo
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Petition created on 13 October 2026