Our first visit (my husband and myself) to Benaulim was in 1988. It was paradise! Things have changed along the years, but we have been coming back many times including those last three months, as we still love it.

But there is a very big problem of safety on the beach because of the stray dogs.

I love going for long walks on the beach, early morning.  But this year, there are more dogs than ever on the beach. They usually attack people in packs. I have been attacked by pack of dogs many times. So, I decided to go for my walk, a bit later, as they are still very much awake at 7.30 am.  I now reach the beach around 8.30, even 9, but the dogs are still very much awake and the packs of dogs are getting bigger in numbers and more ferocious. Recently, I witnessed a father and a daughter of about four years old, who had to go into the sea, as they were attacked by around 10 stray dogs.

Quite frightening for an adult, but imagine the terror for a small child.

In the back roads they also attack in packs. One day, I was attacked by such ferocious dogs, I could not move and thought that was it, until two Indian gentlemen who were passing by on their scooters, stopped to rescue me. 

I cannot thank them enough. Thankfully, I have not been bitten, yet, but I know of a few tourists who were not so lucky. Why nothing is being done about this issue? 

Please do something about it, as it is getting worse and I fear next year it will be terrible as all those puppies born those last months will join those packs of ferocious adult dogs. I realise that some foreign tourists are to be blamed for the problem, as they think they are such good people because they feed them, not thinking for one minute about what’s happening once the season is over.   Because, those same dogs have to go in packs into the villages and kill chickens and pigs in order to feed themselves, and frighten the Goan people in the process.  I have also been told they also destroyed their gardens where they grow vegetables. What is the solution to this very bad and dangerous problem?