Lockdown throwing Karnataka street dogs in turmoil

As the 21-day COVID-19 lockdown hurtles on, more and more stray dogs are vanishing from main streets. Animal activists blame this on a lack of food and the absence of people which have confounded the animals.

“The hardest hit have been dogs which stayed on main roads and industrial or economic hubs. Most used to survive on the leftovers discarded by roadside eateries or they were being fed by employees of professional companies. With the lockdown, that source of food has vanished,” said Sandhya Madappa, Honorary Secretary at CUPA.

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“This has prompted the migration of dogs into inner roads, into residential areas,” she added.

The other factor, according to CUPA, is the absence of people, which has served to confuse the dogs. Nowhere is this situation more prevalent than at Cubbon Park, which has a stray dog population of about 80, according to Priyachetty Rajagopal of the Cubbon Park Association.

“Although the Association is taking care to feed these dogs within the park, we are finding many of them moving out of the park and trying to get into secondary streets in the hope of finding people. They don’t understand why people are missing. They are pining for human company,” Rajgopal said.

Priority is to Feed

To several animals rights activists this is of secondary concern. “Making sure that stray dogs are fed is the primary concern,” said activist Nandini Singh, who helps to bridge the various Animal Birth Control (ABC) Groups in the city’s eight zones and ave been feeding street dogs in their particular zones during the lockdown.

BBMP Special Commissioner for Animal Husbandry D Randeep said that the BBMP is trying to facilitate the feeding by providing food packets.

An informal survey of the various ABC’s by DH revealed that about 2,000 dogs were being fed by ABCs in total. According to a BBMP survey in December, there are 3,09,972 dogs in the city.

Singh, however, explained that the absence of a government circular on the feeding of stray animals had prompted ordinary people to step in. “There are a large number of people running ‘feeders’ across the city. I can say that at least in Bengaluru, we won’t see the problem of street dog starvation,” Singh said.

No Pass Needed

Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao specified that he had ordered his police to give “feeding” crews free passage at checkpoints, provided they had all safety equipment, including masks.

“Animals need food as well. At the end of the day, we should be a kind city. It shouldn’t just be about economics and money,” he said.