Deccan Herald » Metro Life - Thurs » Detailed Story

PASSING THROUGH

Doing her bit for wounded dogs

Madhumitha B

Wendy Honeywood, a student of Animal Management in Holland, was appalled when she saw photographs and videos of culling in various parts of the State. Wendy has since been assisting a group of individuals in the City working hard to stop the indiscriminate culling.

Wendy Honeywood, a student of Animal Management in Holland, flew down to India last month for a research on animals being used as tourist entertainment. During her stay in Agra and Varanasi, she was moved by the condition of most animals and how people simply walked past an injured animal without a second glance. But just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, she was in for more shock than she expected, as she put it.

According to Wendy, during a conversation with a few animal welfare organisations, she was told about the massacre of dogs in Karnataka but then she didn’t think the problem could be as grotesque as it finally turned out to be.

“At first, I didn’t believe it was as bad as the animal welfare organisations told me it is. So I came down to Bangalore to see for myself and when I was taken to shelters and shown photographs and videos of culling in various parts of the State, I was appalled,” said Wendy.

“It’s shocking to watch the government openly committing such illegal activities while people, including the media, aren’t doing anything to put a stop to it. Instead, they seem to have taken an aversion to all dogs. It’s sad that children lost their lives but this method can never work in India as dogs on the street will continue to exist as long as garbage lies on city streets and meat shops continue to thrive openly. Death or injury due to dog bites are common in most countries but this kind of method is unheard of,” she said.

Wendy has since been assisting a group of individuals in the City working hard to stop the indiscriminate culling. “I offered to help NGOs in their shelter but after I met Sneha, Srinivas and Savitha at a protest rally in the City, I knew I could do much more working with them,” she shares.

So Wendy’s agenda these days include travelling from Bangalore to Kolar, Mandya or another part of the State to stop the Malabar dog catchers, hired by the government, from killing thousands of dogs everyday.

“The moment we get any hint of culling activities, we take off to that place in an attempt to save as many dogs as we can. We then try and educate the locals there on how the situation can be resolved. It’s sometimes comforting to know that most of them don’t even want the dogs dead and only seem to be reacting to some political manipulation or anti-social elements,” she said.

Wendy is also interacting with organisations outside India and according to her, the massacre of dogs in the past month is making news across the globe. “And honestly, it isn’t doing any good for Bangalore's reputation. The only method that has always worked in any developed country is the ABC programme along with stringent measures to curb abandonment of pet animals and ill treatment of animals. The government should learn from previous mistakes and think of a logical solution. If they can't handle it, at least encourage those who are willing to do so, implement the programme. This also reduces the burden on the government.”

As part of her course on Animal Management, Wendy has chosen to specialise in wildlife, along with policy making and communication. Along with her internship, she is doing her bit for the dogs here and hopes the government will find a humane solution soon.