GUWAHATI: It is often called an idiot box, but a television set can have smart uses.
A smart animal lover in Assam’s Sivasagar town has created makeshift kennels for strays by picking up cases of old and unused TV sets. He wanted to make sure the dogs do not suffer out in the cold.
“Pets enjoy all comforts but stray dogs suffer from lack of food and shelter. I thought I must do something for them in whatever little way possible. This led to the creation of the shelters,” the kennels’ creator, Abhijit Dowarah, told this newspaper.
The 32-year-old developed a liking for dogs after his brother had brought home a puppy a few years ago. Prior to creating “Baator Ghor” (street home for the dogs), he ventured out several nights to see how they live.
On learning about his initiative, some like-minded people, including a vet, joined him in the cause.
The locals know Dowarah as an “innovator” who turns scrap into utility items. Earlier, he created a certain type of torch for the safety of women and a “gadget” for hand sanitization during the pandemic.
“Over the past five years, I have created some 50 utility items from scrap. So, people don’t throw away old and unused stuffs but give them to me. There were seven old TV sets lying at my two-room residence in Sivasagar’s Phukan Nagar. I thought if I can turn these into the stray dogs’ shelters, they can beat the winter chill,” Dowarah, who is a graduate, said.
He rarely carries home the innards of old and unused stuffs on his bike and when he does, he experiments with them.
A sack was laid on each kennel’s floor. A cotton cloth was spread out on it. The shelters were painted in green and yellow. Green signifies nature while yellow is easily noticeable, Dowarah said.
“We are feeding the dogs today. We have decided to feed them every Wednesday and Sunday. I will keep putting in place the shelters all over the town,” he said, adding, “I have dedicated my life to innovation”.
Sivasagar Additional District Magistrate Al Azhar Ali, who was present when the shelters were put in place on December 4, lavished praise on Dowarah. “This is a wonderful initiative. We all must extend our support and cooperation to him,” Ali said.