Thiruvananthapuram: There are people who are ready to wear through the soles of their shoe and walk kilometres, only to feed dogs. But they are told, a lot of times by people in authority, that feeding results in worsening stray dog menace. K. C. Asok, a feeder, says, “It is a misconception that feeding worsens the issue. When dogs are fed, they become friendlier.” The other day, after his day’s work at a media house, when Asok was feeding dogs, he ran into police during their night rounds. Though he tried explaining that animals would turn into “forever friends” if they are fed, the police continued to heckle him, according to his post on social media.
They didn’t stop until he produced his ID card showing he was with a media house, as per the post. Delhi High Court, in judgements pronounced in 2009 and 2010, talked about the role of dog feeders in successfully carrying out ABC programme. Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) issues an identity card for colony animal caretakers. It is not compulsory to own it, but it helps caregivers who often face harassment in public. Many dog feeders in the city work without any ID card, like 45-year-old S. Geetha, who would leave work, feed dogs at Pettah, Pallimukku Junction, near VJT Hall at Palayam and finally Peroorkada.
She too has had to face questions from the authorities. Last week, someone had filed a police complaint at Peroorkada Police Station saying five pups living in her one-room shanty were causing a nuisance. “The pups have never bitten anyone,” she says. The police, she says, have asked her to build a boundary wall around her house – something she and her ailing husband cannot afford. Sreekumar G. S. (Babu) from Pettah says that many a time the dogs he fed were poisoned to death. “Not everyone is against feeding dogs. But the ones who are supportive do not become feeders themselves,” he says.
