Pune animal welfare NGOs need donors to sponsor dog food during Covid-19 lockdown

Neha Madaan | TNN | Updated: Apr 6, 2020, 17:01 IST

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PUNE: Pune-based NGOs the RESQ Charitable Trust and Karma Foundation are looking for donors to sponsor almost 30,000-plus kgs of dog food to be able to provide to these animals in Pune and PCMC during the lockdown as well as for other animal emergency related works during current crisis.
Restaurants, street-side eateries, food stalls and even meat markets have closed their shutters, leaving several needy strays in a quandary over where their next meal would come from.
Priya Kailad, founder, Karma Foundation, told TOI that Covid-19 lockdown has taken its toll on the stray animals of the city. "Karma Foundation in association with Royal Canin is already running a stray feeding drive and till now has fed 15000-plus dogs accross Pune and PCMC. We have taken permission from Pune police for four large size vehicles which are handing over food to the feeders accross the city. To ensure that we feed maximum number of hungry animals, we need more corporate houses and High Net Worth Individuals (HNI) to step in and help us since there is still a huge deficit of dog food," she said.
Neha Panchamiya, President - RESQ Charitable Trust, told TOI, "Following the lockdown and social distancing protocols, the RESQ team has been operating at a bare minimum. We have fewer supplies and only a skeletal workforce but we are trying our best to function as an emergency rescue facility for animals in distress. We wish to support as many animal feeders in the city who are tirelessly feeding hungry street animals during the lockdown. Over 200 animal feeders in the city are running out of dog food to feed stray dogs. These stray dogs depend entirely on the kindness of the local community for their meals. We want to purchase enough dog food to provide 50,000-plus meals for the volunteer network to feed these hungry animals," she