MARGAO: This being the off season, tourists prefer to ignore Goa since its shacks and beach side restaurants are shut. But few Goans, especially the ones who have their roots here and get summer vacations in the gulf or want to experience the greenery in Goa, take a cheap flight from the UK and head home.
Same was the plight of Roque Barreto, originally from Chinchinim but who brought his family to Goa and checked into a nice guest house in Benaulim.
Roque, his wife and children are fitness freaks like most Brits and decided to venture on to the rough Benaulim beach on Wednesday early morning but fate had something different for them. Chased by almost 30 dogs on the coastline, Roque was badly beaten and bruised and left scared with a scare of rabies and much more.
“We’re so terrified with dad’s bites to even step out of our guest house seeing the number of strays across Goa, especially on the beach. This holiday has turned out to be a nightmare for us of doctors and painkillers. We were lucky to escape unharmed when our father was so badly beaten,” explains one of Roque’s children who are experiencing Goa after many years and are disgusted to see so many dogs on the coastline.
The problem is that the shacks are shut in the monsoons and the dogs on the coastline are starving and they chase humans hoping to get some food but when they realise the tourist is not giving them any, they bite them in disgust and leave them hurt,” explains Roque Fernandez, a taxi driver from Benaulim whose last four days have been about taking the Goan origin tourist to doctors, health centres and pain killer shops.
While Jinshan Patel, who comes to Goa every
monsoons reminds us that the strays are a real menace and even during season the dogs fight amongst themselves in close proximity to tables and guests and leave tourists really scared, there seems no solution to the strays menace.
“I have raised the issue in the assembly and I think Goa needs a serious debate on the stray dogs menace especially on the coastline and touristic spaces. Earlier dogs were euthanised. Today there are charges for murder, attempt to murder but a dog goes scot free for biting a human and getting the human killed. I have raised the issue in the parliament too,” stated Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao who admits that he’s completely aware of the menace on Zalor, Benaulim, Sernabatim beaches with the dogs chasing patrol vehicles, people jogging, kites and parachutes and even stealing food from picnickers.
Residents and daily beach goers believe that Goa Animal Welfare Trust’s (GAWT) effort or that of the panchayat of just rounding up the dogs and neutering them is not a solution to control the menace.
