MARGAO: Following the representation made by the Cavelossim Village Panchayat, the South Goa Collector convened a meeting on Tuesday evening with representatives of panchayats, tourism stakeholders, animal welfare NGOs and government officials from various departments.
Amongst the key issues discussed was the escalating problem of stray dogs on beaches in light of recent incidents where people walking on the beach have been either bitten or chased by a pack of stray dogs.
During the meeting, there were differing views exchanged regarding feeding of stray dogs, with animal welfare NGOs defending and explaining their actions, in response to views shared by some of the other stakeholders who had a problem with such practices. Cavelossim sarpanch Dixon Vas, who co-moderated the meeting along with District Collector Asvin Chandru and Additional Collector Srinet Kothwale, said the purpose of the meeting is recognise everyone’s feedback, but to focus on finding solutions, preferably those that can be implemented as soon as possible.
Expressing concerns over the recent beach incidents, Vas urged the elected representatives to help coordinate efforts to find solutions and criticised the officials of the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) for remaining absent for the meeting.
While the stakeholders proposed solutions which included creating awareness, streamlining stray dog feeding practice, it was unanimously agreed that the setting up of dog shelters with funding from the government can help address this issue.
In response, the Collector has directed the Animal Husbandry Department to identify suitable land for these shelters and submit a comprehensive proposal. It was agreed to start with, one central dog shelter would be set up by the Animal Husbandry Department.
Dr Murugan Appupillai called for a decentralised approach wherein panchayats could identify suitable land in their jurisdiction for setting up dog shelters in their village. He spoke about providing assistance in sterilising the dogs and training resource persons to do this in various villages.
Vas pointed out that panchayats are facing difficulty in finding land for other requirements like garbage disposal site and felt the centralised location could also help in dog attacks cases where the canine in question can be brought here or also in cases of finding injured dogs.
He added that a dog shelter can also help in the welfare of stray dogs as they will be fed and receive treatment from veterinarians, a task that is often carried out by NGOs using their personal funds.
