KOCHI: In times of crisis, animals are given the least preference by rescuers. It demands a sense of compassion to lend a helping hand to those beloved souls. Following the clarion call from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, officers from Kalamassery police station kick-started their stray dog reach out programme on Saturday. The initiative is led by Raghu P S, a civil police officer, who saw the plight of a starving stray dog while he and his colleagues were returning the station on Friday.
“I felt very sorry and gave it the lone packet of food we had. The dog regained its energy after eating it. Seeing this, we went to a pet shop and bought 25kg of dog food and packets of crushed bread,” he said.
On Saturday, the officers distributed the food to more than 20 stray dogs on the Kalamassery-Kaloor stretch.“We distributed 250gm of bread, store-bought meal and water to each dog. But most of them are exposed to our meals as they forage for food from the garbage on the street. Instead of processed dog food, we will give rice and vegetables from Sunday,” said Raghu.
Raghu is a guardian of five pet dogs, two of which were rescued during the 2018 flood. “It is heartbreaking to see the way these dogs are left to fend for themselves on the streets. Most of them are really tired,” he said. The officers have been distributing over 300 food packets and drinking water to the stranded persons in the city since last Sunday. Besides, they are also providing bread and bananas to the needy for dinner. Kochi Metro Rail Ltd and YMCA are supporting the initiative. “We have started the initiative by cooking the food from our households. Now, it has grown to 300 food packets,” he said.
Raghu recently hogged the limelight for helping French journalist Desmazure Fleurine and her three-year-old who were stranded after she lost her wallet. He has also bagged various laurels from the Union Home Ministry during his tenure with tourism police for helping foreigners.