TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
BICHOLIM: It was a raid that took even officials and animal welfare activists by surprise as a house in Navelim-Salcete was turned into a virtual mini-zoo of endangered species, including crocodiles, a civet and a kite.
Speaking to Herald, Animal Rescue Squad (ARS) chief Amrut Singh said they along with forest department officials raided a house in Navelim and rescued several animals kept as pets by a man.
“Acting on information from one of our members, we came to know that the man had kept several animals captive as pets in his house. After confirming this, we along with the forest department raided the premises and rescued the animals,” stated Singh.
“The animals rescued were four parakeets, two crocodiles, one black kite, a python, one Indian palm civet and one three-striped squirrel. There was also a spotted deer but we decided to keep the animal with him, as he had kept it for about 17 years. The deer had adapted itself to those conditions and was not chained. If we had to rescue it and transfer the animal to some other place like a zoo or in the forest, it might not have survived under a different habitat. So we kept it in the village,” informed Singh.
“We have asked the forest department to take a declaration from the person keeping the deer and in case of any injury to the deer, he is expected to immediately inform the forest department,” added Singh.
“All the animals are considered endangered and some of them even fall under Schedule I Part 2 of Forest Act. Though the man did not have any wrong intentions in keeping the animals, they simply cannot be kept as pets. The forest department has now framed charges against the person,” he said.
The other ARS members who took part in the rescue operation included John Fernandes, Johnson Stephen and Mahadev Mestri, while the forest department officials included RFO D M Kundalkar, Range Forester Datta Gaonkar, Forest Guard Samarth Naik, Sulochana Gaonkar and Animal attendant Julio Quadros.
