While there are many who often complain about the need to tackle
the stray dog menace, very few actually walk the talk. In September 2021, three
animal lovers and concerned citizens from around Margao, Lily Gonsalves,
Virgina Simoes and Bruce Gonsalves, took it upon themselves to raise funds,
care for, feed and sterilise the increasingly large number of stray dogs on the
streets.
What sets this group, of over 30-plus
members, apart, is that they are self-funded and use these funds to feed,
rescue, catch and transport the dogs to the animal shelter for sterilisations.
Till date, they have actively been responsible for the sterilisation of over
300 dogs, mainly conducted through tie-ups with the South Goa Welfare Trust for
Animals (SGWTA), and later, People For Animals Vasco, when the SGWTA went out
of commission due to a lack of funds and no veterinary doctor. Dr Anish Viegas
of the Viegas Pet Clinic in Gogol Housing Board, too, has helped the group by
offering free sterilisations for strays every week.
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“Many pet parents with unsterilised pets
are partly responsible for the growing stray population. It is extremely
distressing to see pet owners heartlessly abandon young pups and kittens in the
streets, markets and highways, literally on a daily basis, leaving the innocent
babies to fend for themselves, which inevitably results in road kills, or
fatalities due to the viruses they contract with weakened immune systems. When
animals are injured, there is also no support system by way of an ambulance or
doctors on call to attend to them, which makes it extremely taxing for animal
welfare volunteers both physically as well as financially,” said Simoes.
The government had begun work on a multi-storey government
veterinary clinic at Sonsoddo to deal with the increasing stray dog population,
but two and a half years on, it is still under construction. Stressing that
only a handful of people cannot sustain such a big initiative on their own,
Fabiola Almeida, an active group member, emphasised that more people need to
get involved in animal welfare and contribute, whether it is through physical
or monetary support.
“If most hate dogs or cats surrounding their homes, the only way
to control this is to sterilise your pet, male or female. The second step is to
contribute towards sterilising the street dogs or cats. It’s only then, that
the stray dog population will drop immensely,” said Neville Marchon, another
group member, adding, “Most people are afraid to sterilise dogs as they think
it will change their behaviour; this is a myth.”
Apart from preventing unnecessary breeding, sterilisation also
reduces the risk of certain cancers and womb infections in the female and
incidence of testicular cancer and prostate diseases in male dogs. “As a
responsible pet owner, it’s important to sterilise not just your female dog,
but male as well. One male dog can impregnate several females contributing to
the stray dog population. If you don’t sterilise your dog, you are part of the
problem,” said another group member.
In what may come as some relief to the group members, the Goa
government recently notified the amended “The Goa Small Animal Rescue
Management Scheme 2014” that will benefit around 1.5 lakh small animals like
stray dogs and cats in the state for sterilisation, rescue, and better
implementation by the local bodies like the municipality, panchayats, etc. It
includes 100% grant of vehicle, Rs 1,800 per sterilization, shed construction
etc. “Each Municipality/ Panchayat has to apply for the scheme. Now, the ball
is in their court,” Simoes said.
“Just a handful of ordinary citizens can only do so much. We
need people and the authorities in charge to support us. If anyone would like
to know more about our work or contribute, reach out to us on our Instagram
page indiepawsmargao,” said another group member.
It is to be noted that earlier this month, the Margao Municipal
Council (MMC) recently approved a decision to purchase Tata Ace vehicle for
stray dogs sterilisation while earlier in the month of March this year, the MMC
council approved the allotment of Rs 1 crore for a new dog shelter.
MMC
also held a meeting with the local monitoring committee of Animal Births
Control (ABC) where they discussed strategies to achieve the targets regarding
stray dogs in the jurisdiction of Margao. MMC had also asked for a copy of a
survey that had been conducted in September 2021 by the World Veterinary
Services (WVS) and Rotary Club of Margao.
