Feeding Stray Animals and helping them

  WHY SHOULD WE FEED STREET ANIMALS?

“HE WHO FEEDS A HUNGRY ANIMAL, FEEDS HIS OWN SOUL – Charlie Chaplin

As a child, my family would sometimes go out for dinner at a Chinese eatery near our house. The food was alright, but one thing that’s stuck with me even after all this time was how a group of stray dogs would hang around near my table, just waiting for me to drop them scraps of fish or chicken. 

As I grew up, I realized that it wasn't just me. Most INDIANS are reluctant to feed stray animals at eateries. The restaurant owners themselves often dislike having strays around because it makes their eateries look dirty — especially when well-meaning customers throw food on the ground for the animals to eat. 

Yet unlike what most people assume, feeding stray animals can actually be helpful. 

In our busy schedule, we sometimes never give a second thought to animals like cats, dogs wandering in our neighborhood and generally tend to ignore them.
Sometimes, it’s the bark of a dog or chilling howl of a cat that grabs our attention for a short spell and then we forget, but we don’t realize that what we forget as humans is that we have a responsibility to help, care and look after the needy and helpless creatures who depend on us.

DIFFRENCE BETWEEN STRAY AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS

It is important to remember that there is a difference between animals you have as pets at home and those roaming outside your house. Stray dogs and cats live in harsh conditions, so they carry germs and diseases as they eat out of garbage and things lying on the floor, which domesticated/pets do not. Therefore, the ones at home are pretty clean and with fewer germs and the ones outside have a lot of germs infesting on them. So, if you decide to help and care for any stray animal, make sure you are at a safe distance.

Stray animals usually get bad treatment from people around them; they get hostile and sometimes attack. Why? Because they have hardly seen love and care; all they have come across is human cruelty, hatred, and torture, hence their defensive and harsh attitude towards humans. So, don’t get close to stray animals immediately. It takes time for them to realize that some humans are caring and are showering their love on them.

HC VIEW ON THIS: -

Stray dogs have the right to food and citizens have the right to feed community canines, the Delhi High Court has said while observing that in exercising this right care and caution should be taken to ensure that it does not impinge upon others and causes no harassment or nuisance.

The high court, while laying down guidelines regarding feeding of stray dogs, said every dog is a territorial being and it has to be fed and tended to at places within their territory which is not frequented by the general public.

Responsible feeding practices

Participating in dog feeding campaigns is a fantastic method to help feed stray dogs in India. If you’re working on any single project follow these guidelines to learn how to feed stray dogs safely and responsibly.

• Use biodegradable/disposable cutlery: As people mostly serve a lot of food, disposable plates to serve the stray dogs are an excellent option. When the meal is finished, make sure to dispose of the cutlery in the nearby trash can. If you don’t have any, use newspaper pieces and make sure to collect them in a garbage bag once the dogs have finished eating and dispersing.
• Choose a feeding location: Stray dogs’ survival instincts help them in developing a fine knowledge of where and when to go to access food. You may assure a safer and undisturbed feeding habit by choosing a safe location that is somewhat away from your residential location.
• Set a feeding schedule and stick to it: When you start feeding stray dogs in your neighborhood, you take on the enormous duty of ensuring that these creatures are kept in the greatest possible health. Make sure the stray dog does not become reliant on you for food. So don’t overfeed or feed too frequently during the day. Stick to a schedule and feed on that time. The goal of feeding stray dogs is to make them friendly so that they are easier to catch for spay/neuter operations, easy to handle when they are sick or injured, and also for the yearly anti-rabies vaccination.

Set a feeding time, preferably before 7:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m., and make sure you are there every day. Breaking the habit could be disastrous since the stray dogs would continue to wait for you despite your absence. Make sure you team up with a family member or friend to feed the dog so that if you are unable to do so due to work or illness, someone else can take over.

• Do not pet stray dogs: When feeding stray dogs, keep in mind that they are not pets. To begin with, you won’t be able to take them all home, and they may not all be adopted. As a result, their lives will be spent on the streets, and they must learn to keep a safe distance from people, as not everyone enjoys dogs. If you make a dog extremely friendly with yourself, the dog may leap on an unsuspecting person looking for attention, and if that person does not like dogs, the dog may scare that person!

Aside from simple compassion? 

Despite what some may assume, stray animals aren’t going to disappear just because we ignore them. While some callous individuals will insist that we need to cull their numbers, starving them isn’t the solution. 

A stray's life is hard enough as it is. Even if they get fed, not many of them will live as long or as happily as a domestic pet. Without access to vaccinations or medicine, many strays end up riddled with parasites and diseases, which is why Feeding Stations and Trap, Neuter/Spay and Release (TNR) programs are an effective way of reducing their numbers. 

WE SHOULD COME TOGETHER AND HELP THEM JUST BECOUSE THEY CAN'T SAY ANYTHING IT DOESN'T MEAN WE LEFT THEM INTO SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES. AS A HUMAN BEING IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE CHARGE OF IT.