Take a walk along any city road, and one cannot help but spot stray dogs around every corner, near garbage heaps and many chasing residents, which often results in injuries to city-zens. Now, an Infosys-based animal welfare club, ‘Raksha’, has come up with an initiative to change this situation for the better.
The club is organising an animal adoption drive along with People for Animals (PFA) and Street Dog Watch (SDW) at Kanakakkunnu in the city on Sunday. The aim of the programme is to find a home for the dogs, especially puppies.
As many as 25 rescued puppies will be placed for adoption at the programme. The puppies will be collared and those people who find it difficult to take them home after adoption can keep them in the shelter provided by Raksha.
According to the organisers, the initiative is aimed at reducing the stray dog menace. The main victims of the dog menace are morning and evening walkers and students who walk to school and back. “The large presence of stray dogs has also led to an increase in the number of accidents involving two-wheeler riders,” said Ramachandran, the coordinator of the programme.
Raksha is an initiative of few Infoscions since 2011 and is an abbreviation of ‘Rescue of Awareness about Kindness towards and Shelter for Helpless Animals.’ The club’s programmes include animal rescue, volunteering at shelters, adopting rescued animals, conducting awareness programmes and fund-raising campaigns.
“We have been looking after the helpless animals suffering from diseases, treated cruelly and those that were abandoned. We also take animals which have met with accidents and look after them till they recover fully,” said Sreeja Sukumaran, a member of Raksha.
Raksha has about 100 employees involved in the rescue effort. The movement is also supported by auto drivers in front of Infosys and a few veterinary doctors in the city.
“We took the decision to conduct the programme after an awareness session by a vet held on our campus. As of now, we have rescued and adopted around 100 puppies. Through this programme, we want to make people aware that dogs of Indian breeds are equally good to be kept as pets. These breeds are usually driven away or avoided, assuming that they are not status-worthy,” said Swathi Somakumar, another member of Raksha.
Raksha has also taken up the issue through social networks as part of its campaign and has a page on Facebook. Those who find injured and hapless animals can contact the Raksha helpline number, which entertains calls round the clock.
The number is, 9544923030.
