- Wednesday, May 08, 2024
The activists also said the authorities were not giving the dogs proper food and water and that they were not allowed to so either.
By: Shubham Ghosh
ACTIVISTS and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working for animals’ welfare have accused local municipal authorities in New Delhi of picking up stray dogs using nooses around their necks and dumping them at shelter homes under inhumane conditions ahead of the G20 summit starting Saturday (9) when several top world leaders will gather in the Indian capital.
A few dog lovers told India’s NDTV outside a shelter-cum-sterilisation centre run by Delhi’s municipal corporation alleging that the canines were not only picked from areas that will see VVIP movement during the mega event but also other places. They alleged that the animals were left in far-off places.
While the municipal authorities assured that the dogs will be released on September 12, the dog lovers were yet not convinced. They said that the way the dogs were picked up was illegal. They said nooses were used to rein in them and videos of such captures were circulating on social media.
They also accused the authorities of not giving the dogs proper food and water and that their requests to feed the animals themselves have fallen on deaf ears. They said they were also not allowed to feed or give water to the dogs even if they are allowed to see the animals during the ‘visiting hours’, the report added.
The animal welfare activists said they would not have any problem had the dogs been caught using nets from select areas for a few days. They said while the municipal authorities had a meeting and a circular was issued but that was allegedly withdrawn later.
“We were misled and the whole thing was done illegally. They caught dogs that are very old and, instead of taking them to shelters nearby, dumped them in places that are far away,” Gunjan, one of the dog lovers, was quoted as saying by NDTV.
On Tuesday (5), around 20 activists from organisations such as House of Stray Animals and Happy Tails Foundation from Noida had met Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi and submitted a memorandum against picking of stray dogs by the corporation, allegedly without any order, for the G20 summit.
The activists had requested Oberoi to “return” all stray dogs to the areas where they were taken from, a report by news agency PTI said.
Recently, big cutouts of gray langurs were being put up across New Delhi to scare away small monkeys that have a large population in the capital. Previously, real langurs had been used for the purpose when the city hosted a major international event but the practice was stopped after animal activists protested over holding the animals in captivity.
