To help curb the animal-homelessness crisis, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has performed sterilisation surgeries on 102 community cats in Bandra (West). Of these, around 60 cats were from the fish market at Hill Road.
The sterilisation drive, which was carried out by a team of six volunteers, was started in July as PETA was receiving an increasing number of complaints about cats being run over by vehicles in Bandra. The programme was conducted in collaboration with the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) and the Youth Organisation in Defence of Animals.
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The volunteers also vaccinated the cats, treated their injuries and put proof-of-sterilisation ear tags on them, before they were released into their original habitats.
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“Since one female cat can produce 12 kittens each year, sterilising 102 cats will keep scores of animals from being born into difficult and dangerous lives on the streets,” said PETA CEO Manilal Valliyate. PETA now plans to expand this drive all around Mumbai, with Dharavi being the next stop.
Dr. Valliyate stray animals struggled to survive. “Many of them go hungry, are deliberately injured or killed, hit by vehicles, or abused in other ways. Countless others end up in animal shelters because there aren’t enough good homes for them,” he said.
He said that every time someone buys a dog or a cat from a breeder or a pet shop, a homeless animal loses the chance at finding a home.
According to PETA, animal birth control is the solution for the problem.
“Sterilising one female dog can prevent 67,000 births in six years, and sterilising one female cat can prevent 4,20,000 births in seven years. Sterilised animals also live longer, healthier lives and, in the case of males, are less likely to roam, fight, or bite,” Dr. Valliyate said.