In the wake of the gruesome incident of a group of boys burning alive three puppies in Hyderabad, city based organisations are stepping up their initiatives to sensitise people and protect the dogs from the growing apathy and cruelty meted out to them.
The Launchpad is planning to start awareness workshops for schools, colleges, slum communities, corporates and government officials in its endeavour to address the issue. “The Hyderabad incident has left the country shocked. We need to accept the fact that man and animal are supposed to co-exist. My aim is to reach out to a cross section of people in society to create a larger change in human behaviour towards dogs for reducing human-dog conflicts,” said Sangitaa Sehgall of The Launchpad. Sehgall, who is the education partner of the US based Humane Society International and Animal Help Foundation, India, is currently carrying out a Tata Group funded project in Jamshedpur for awareness and educational activities involving 10,000 schools, slum communities and also involving local authorities. The Launchpad plans to replicate the initiative in Visakhapatnam.
“We have already approached the district administration with a proposal and will also start workshops and educational modules in a couple of city schools shortly,” Sehgall added.
Modules
The modules are classified into six categories depending on age groups starting from classes 3 to 12, including two modules designed for adults and householders. “These are 45 minutes in duration and are structured in an interactive way with a video, story-telling and question-answer session to engage the viewer in an effective way,” said Sehgall. It took her four months to create the contents of the module, which includes topics like understanding dogs, how to avoid dog bites, what is rabies and how to prevent it and responsible pet ownership. “Families should understand that a dog is not a toy. Unfortunately, today we see many good breed dogs roaming in the streets due to the insensitivity of owners who disown them,” she added.
Volunteers of other NGOs like Moto Paws meet on Sundays at the Beach Road to discuss the progress of their main initiative of radium collaring stray dogs in accident prone areas. “It is a voluntary service. The only payment we get is the love and gratitude from the dogs and that is the most incredible feeling of satisfaction ever,” say the volunteers. Kranthi Das, committed animal rescuer, has recently started a Facebook group called Vizag Lost Pets where she actively puts up information regarding rescuing abandoned pets and connect them to foster homes.
