Last year the Supreme Court gave guidelines on dealing with the growing stray dog menace in Delhi. While the State government claims to have managed Goa’s stray dog population, animal lovers and activists say the actions taken are inadequate and that authorities need to take more proactive steps.
Senior advocate, environment activist and chairperson of People for Animals (PFA), Goa, Norma Alvares said that the Supreme Court’s interim order directed that all stray dogs in institutions should be removed and housed permanently in shelters, where the government would sterilise and care for them.
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“This direction was opposed by a large number of NGOs and citizens whose protest applications were heard by the court, and the final judgment is awaited,” Adv Alvares said.
Regarding shelters, she informed that the government has recently made some moves to set up shelters for strays.
“Four shelters are reportedly planned but without identifying locations this could well be a pipe dream. I do believe it is good if the State government establishes some shelters where dogs needing rehabilitation are housed temporarily to enable behavioural change,” the PFA Goa chairperson said.
Adv Alvares added that as per the SC’s direction, government shelters should have been set up long ago.
“The Goa government is at a very preliminary stage of responding to this direction. Unless land is identified and funds are allocated it cannot be said that the Goa government has complied with the apex court’s directions,” she added.
Honorary President, of PFA, Goa, Sarita Parab, said various panchayats in Ponda taluka have signed MoUs with the PFA regarding stray dog management, but funds haven’t been released yet.
“We have signed at least nine MoUs and inwarded five of them in animal husbandry and now we are waiting for the sanctioning of funds so that we can begin the work of sterilisation under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme. We can’t begin the work as it is a costly process,” Parab said.
She said that a delay in sterilisation will lead to people accusing the PFA of not doing enough.
Animal lover, Sanchita Banerjee-Rodrigues said that Goa is far ahead of other States because of the way the government here supports the NGOs actually doing sterilisation. However, much more has to be done.
“Recently, the government announced they are going to have one shelter in each of the three districts. But work has to be done on a war-footing. The sterilisation of stray dogs is not happening at the speed it should,” she said.
Adv Pratima Coutinho, who, along with Porvorim residents, staged a protest at the Mapusa Police Station seeking the rescue of their community dog, Brownie, allegedly held at an unauthorised shelter in Nachinola, Aldona, said that government veterinary clinics and hospitals face shortages of essential medicines, including, syringes, vaccines and other basic supplies.
“People have to buy medicines for de-worming, vaccines and bandages, etc, from outside at a very high cost. So I feel that the government should provide these things. I am told some of the clinics don’t even have gloves,” Adv Coutinho said.
