Considered a menace by many residents, community dogs actually have an important role to play in the ecosystem of a place, including Puducherry where the issue has hogged headlines.
They act as watchdogs and keep rodents away, said Dr. K. Coumarane, Veterinary Medical Officer, Puducherry Municipality.
He gave the example of Surat, where links were made between the elimination of community dogs and the 1994 plague.
Bogged down by complaints from residents on community dogs, the Puducherry Municipality organised a workshop on animal welfare for school teachers on Friday.
“Increased urbanisation has led to a low level of tolerance among residents towards animals. Through these school teachers, we want to reach students, the next generation, to create awareness about caring for animals, and living in harmony with them,” he said to The Hindu .
Sixty teachers from government and private schools attended the one-day workshop organised by the Puducherry Municipality in association with the Wildlife Trust of India and the Scan Foundation.
Rupa Gandhi Chaudhary, Joint Director, Wildlife Trust of India, gave insights into laws governing animal welfare in India, and the role of school teachers in educating students in this area.
Participants were also told about the crucial role played by animals in the ecosystem, and were shown short films.
“The workshop has been interesting. I will definitely be taking the ideas I learnt here to my students,” said Nagaraj, a teacher at the Aditya Vidyashram Residential School.
“I will tell students that we must show kindness to all animals, not just the ones we have beliefs about,” said Gajalakshmi, a teacher at the Seventh Day Adventist School, Marapalam.
Chandigarh modelWith an estimated 24,766 community dogs in Puducherry region, the administration is planning to implement a large scale community dogs control programme on the lines of a successful model followed in Chandigarh, said Dr. Coumarane. The plan would rope in NGOs in the animal welfare area and they would be tasked with animal census, running shelter homes, vaccination and Animal Birth Control programmes. The allocation of Rs. 1 crore as said in the Budget would be utilised for this.
“Puducherry has the potential to develop as a model for being an animal-friendly State,” said Dr. Jerold from Scan Foundation. The organisation which has done extensive work in Chennai has plans to expand to Puducherry as well, he said.