Citizens of Ponda city have been the latest casualty of dog bites. It is understood that there have been 800 cases of dog bites reported at the Ponda Sub-District Hospital from January to September this year (Herald 16).
It may be recalled that there was this incident of a rabid stray dog going on a biting spree and biting about 43 people in Cansaulim and the surrounding areas recently. Presence of stray dogs has been a perennial problem in the state. They pose a danger to the citizens, specially the children. One way of tackling the matter is to convert the stray dogs into pet dogs. Dog-lovers in the state should make it a point to adopt stray dogs instead of the pedigree and exotic breed of dogs. Such pedigree and exotic breed of dogs not only requires a huge sum of money to procure but taking care of them can be an expensive proposition as they need a lot of tender care. On the contrary the stray pups are available free of cost. These stray pups are tough and need the minimum of care and it also much less expensive to adopt them. If every dog-lover in the state adopts a stray pup then the number of stray dogs will come down drastically as it will arrest the breeding of more stray dogs on the streets. Every dog-lover needs to make it a point to adopt a few stray pups which could be added to their collections of pedigrees. Or a dog-lover could adopt only stray-pups.
I have myself adopted a stray pup. From my personal experience a stray dog can be more grateful and faithful than a pedigree or an exotic breed. Such stray pups are available in shelter homes or could be collected from the streets.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
