The two things that plague Goa in a big way are the garbage menace and stray cattle/stray dog menace. However what we fail to understand is that both are correlated.
It is common knowledge that the garbage dumped along the roadside and in open spaces attracts stray animals who feast on it. Stray cattle/dogs are seen rummaging through the plastic bags containing garbage which one finds strewn all over the place. If there is no garbage to feed on, there would be no stray animals roaming on the streets. We citizens tend to complain about stray dogs and how they run the risk of being bitten by a rabid dog. We complain of stray cattle being responsible for road-accidents. But then we fail to understand that our very action of throwing the garbage-filled plastic bags onto open spaces is the primary reason for the proliferation of stray dogs.
Garbage strewn on the beaches is also the reason why stray dogs and cattle roam on the beach sand. These animals obviously do not visit the beaches to enjoy the sunset or the sea-breeze. It is the garbage that attracts them there.
In a way we ourselves are responsible for the mess and the danger stray dogs pose to our lives. It appears that there is no scarcity of food for the stray animals on the streets. With no food available by the roadside and on the beaches in the form of garbage, the stray animals would be not loitering about. We citizens need to keep this in mind and stop littering our surrounding.
ADELMO FERNANDES, Vasco
