The staff from Friendicoes arrived around 8.30 am and began looking for dogs.(Representative- Express Photo)As the demolition of the Supertech twin towers nears, stray dogs around the demolition site, including those found on the premises of Emerald Court and parks around the area, were removed and sent to boarding house Thursday with the help of volunteers and Friendicoes, which is a registered society working for animal welfare since the 1970s.
For Saniya Varma, a resident of the neighbouring Parsvnath Srishti, who has been feeding stray dogs in and around the twin towers for the past two years, protecting strays is of utmost importance. “We started our work with stray dogs first. We have removed around 23 dogs and sent them to a boarding known as Veda house in sector 158. It was hard to catch the dogs but animal ambulances and staff from Friendicoes helped us. They had sent three vans and around eight-nine catchers. The dogs will be at the boarding house for the next few days until things settle down, and will be brought back on August 29.”
Varma said she created an online group after asking fellow volunteers who would be willing to help. “I along with 10-12 volunteers reached the spot at 8.00 am, and started looking for dogs in the vicinity of the towers. We managed to get most of them and fed them. Meanwhile, the vans arrived; once the dogs noticed the vans, they became extremely scared and started running away. So, we again looked for them until around 12 pm. If even one dog figures out that catchers have arrived they hide, that’s why we needed volunteers, and we were able to gather around 23 dogs,” she said. Varma said the volunteers will continue to look for strays until the demolition takes place.
The staff from Friendicoes arrived around 8.30 am and began looking for dogs. “We looked around the parks opposite Emerald Court and found around 18-20 dogs. We will be taking them to a boarding house,” one of the catchers said. Friendicoes staff was in the area looking for dogs until 11:30 am. There were eight catchers with dog-catching equipment.
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Geeta Sheshamani, vice-president of Friendicoes SECA, said, “We are connected on WhatsApp groups with feeders in Noida. When I came to know about this, I realised that this is a matter of urgent importance. I connected with two dog feeders in Noida. I asked them if they required any help including ambulances for the stray dogs as it would have been hard for the feeders to find the dogs themselves. Since Saniya is a known dog-feeder in the area, we connected with her and three ambulances were sent. We have removed around 27 dogs and we are hoping to remove some more.”