TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: Consumer rights activists on Saturday joined hands under the banner of GOACAN to highlight the urgent need to stop indiscriminate killing of frogs on the occasion of Save the Frogs Day.
Carrying placards, with an appeal to consumers to stop eating frog meat, the activist distributed handouts to consumers informing them frogs are hunted in the village during the monsoon for the purpose of commercial sale to restaurants and for home consumption.
GOACAN Co-ordinator Roland Martins said the consumers were informed that Bull frogs are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 whereby catching, selling, killing frogs or serving and eating frog meat contravenes the provision of the Act and attracts stringent punishment, including imprisonment for a period of three years and a fine of Rs 25,000 when cases are booked by the Forest Department officials.
“We highlighted that frogs feed on mosquito’s which are responsible for the spread of malaria and other vector borne diseases. Also, the increasing incidence of snakes encroaching into human habitation and settlement areas is also attributed to the dwindling population of frogs”, Martins added.
Meanwhile, GOACAN has decided to write to the Forest Department requesting a full scale Awareness & Action campaign during the forthcoming monsoon which would send a strong signal to those involved in the offences.
