Dog lovers find it tough to feed strays as donations dry up

Jamshedpur: With the lockdown impacting salaries of the working class and people not willing to loosen their purse strings for generous contributions, NGOs looking after street dogs across the Steel City are in a financial crunch. Shut eateries and restaurants have also added to the problems of the strays which could no longer find leftovers.
“The lockdown has taken away jobs, leaving several people with slashed salaries. The generous donations which we used to get from them have stopped coming in. We are facing problems in feeding and taking medical care of the stray dogs,” said Abhishek Rai of Pets and Animals Welfare Society of Jharkhand (PAWSJ).
PAWSJ functionary Aditya Pathak said currently they are feeding 170 to 200 stray dogs in the city, but the number of strays is 10 times more than the animals they are feeding every day. “We have put up our WhatsApp number on our Facebook account for those interested in donating,” Pathak said.
Prarambh, a city-based animal lovers’ organisation, said it is spreading awareness through social media platforms. “We are appealing to people to be compassionate towards animals and urging them to feed the stray dogs of their localities. Leftover food at homes will be sufficient to feed at least one dog,” said a volunteer of the outfit, Pawan Pal Singh.
Dog lover Ronnie Sarkar, who owns a popular tattoo shop in the city, said there is a shortage of volunteers too. “With the rapid spread of the coronavirus in the city, several of our volunteers who were actively involved in feeding strays during the lockdown period are now avoiding the responsibility fearing the virus,” Sarkar said.
Notably, till Saturday, East Singhbhum recorded a total of 830 Covid-19 cases of which 474 are still active. The district has also seen seven deaths.