THANJAVUR: Volunteers of Endangered Wildlife and Environmental Trust (EWET) have been feeding street dogs during the lockdown period. For the seventh consecutive day, on Friday evening, they started their journey in an autorickshaw to feed dogs. They started feeding dogs on the Santhapillaigate to Mariammankoil stretch of the Thanjavur-Nagappattinam road.
"As eateries are closed and people are not coming out of their houses during lockdown, these dogs were left with no food," said R Sathishkumar, EWET founder and president.
He added, "When we saw some dogs eating cow dung as they were hungry, we decided to intervene and to provide food to them." Sathishkumar consulted volunteers in his group and started preparing and serving food to dogs.
The started feeding dogs roaming in the New bus stand, Vallam Road, Nanjikkottai Road and New housing unit areas. They cook 20 kg to 25 kg of rice per day with 6 kg of chicken. The rice is mixed with turmeric powder and Vitamin B complex to fortify the food. "We serve the rice only on paper plates, that, too, without plastic coating", said Sathishkumar. On an average, the group feeds 200 to240 dogs per day. The volunteers pooled in their own resources in the beginning and the exercise costs around Rs. 2,000 per day. "Now, some people are donating and for the last three days, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has joined as co-sponsor of the project to feed community dogs," said Sathishkumar. Explaining the rationale behind choosing the Mariammankoil area, volunteers said as the temple was closed, there were no visitors to feed the dogs. The service of feeding dogs would go on till the lockdown is lifted, said Sathishkumar. It is worth noting EWET recently arranged for artificial wooden houses, water and feed for house sparrows in many parts of the city and its outskirts.