Army of animal lovers take to India’s streets to feed millions of stray dogs and cattle abandoned in country’s lockdown
- Around 30 million dogs and five million cattle were left to starve on the streets
- Activists were given ‘feeding passes’ that allow them to leave their homes
- They wear personal protective equipment when feeding the hungry strays
- One desperate activist said there’s ‘never enough’ to provide for the animals
An army of animal lovers has taken to India’s streets to feed millions of strays dogs and cattle left to starve amid the coronavirus pandemic, but say there is ‘never enough’ food to go round.
Strays used to scavenging scraps from hotels, restaurants and roadside stalls were abandoned following the country’s stay-at-home order imposed on March 24.
Around 30 million dogs and five million cattle now roam across India’s usually bustling streets, weaving in and out of traffic and sheltering under highway overpasses during the scorching afternoons as they fend for themselves.
Priyanka Gusain is one of an army of activists bringing food to the animals in her spare time, along with her mother Vilochna.
Dressed in personal protective equipment including a face mask and gloves, she brings sacks of cattle fodder, dog pellets and water for her evening feeding rounds in Delhi.
The activist also lays down grass for cows and horses, otherwise left to fend for themselves.
Armed with personal protective equipment including a face mask and gloves, Priyanka Gusain brings sacks of cattle fodder and dog pellets on her back seat and water in the boot of her car for evening rounds in Delhi
Priyanka Gusain feeds grass to a cow on a roadside. She obtained a pass through a Delhi shelter organisation that allows her to leave her home, but has faced pushback from people who say: ‘You are doing so much for dogs, what about humans?’
Animal lover Vilochna Gusain (above) feeds stray dogs during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against coronavirus in New Delhi
Animals flock around a Blue Cross India worker as he feeds strays left to starve amid the lockdown
Gusain said: ‘No-one is taking care of them. That thought made me do all of this.’
Animal activists have pressed local authorities to issue ‘feeding passes’ that will allow them outside to help the animals at risk.
Many launched online campaigns to raise funds and set up WhatsApp chat groups to coordinate feeding runs.
The mercy missions from animal lovers are not universally popular, though.
A Blue Cross India worker feeds hungry stray dogs who flock around him at Marina beach
Gusain, who obtained a pass through a Delhi shelter organisation, has faced pushback from people who say: ‘You are doing so much for dogs, what about humans?’
Even working animals have become casualties. With tourism and mining having ground to a halt, horses, donkeys and ponies were being ‘thrown out left, right and centre’, said Gauri Maulekhi of People for Animals India.
General manager of Blue Cross India Vinod Kumar pats a rescued dog during the nationwide lockdown. ‘In many cases, the dogs… in places where there are not many residences, they actually starve,’ he said
Blue Cross India workers collect food from a hotel ready to deliver to stray dogs abandoned amid the lockdown
In this photograph taken on April 22, 2020, a stray dog is surrounded by crows as they eat food scattered along a street distributed by Blue Cross India workers at Marina beach
Stray cattle, left to roam the streets by their owners or abandoned when they get old, are also struggling to survive.
‘If there are a hundred mouths to feed, we are perhaps able to feed only 10. There is never enough. There is a huge shortage,’ Mauleki added.
In the southern city of Chennai, Vinod Kumar from animal welfare charity Blue Cross of India said the situation was desperate.
‘In many cases, the dogs… in places where there are not many residences, they actually starve,’ he said.
Several shelters said people are also abandoning pets in fear they could contract and spread the virus to human owners.