Stray dogs, cats and puppies literally invade the SGPDA retail fish market. Captured by : Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Beware! Strays are on the prowl across the commercial capital “ right from the SGPDA mega retail fish market to government housing quarters, besides the city’s lanes and by-lanes.
Salcete coastal belt may be in the news in recent weeks and months over the rising number of stray dog attacks on visitors and tourists. The situation is no better in the commercial capital, which may leave a stranger to the city to wonder how come strays, including dogs, cats, etc are found everywhere when the High Court directions mandate the local Municipal body to handle the stray dog issue.
Consider this. It’s now close to two weeks since Mission Rabies returned back to Fatorda to undertake a three-week dog sterilisation camp organised by ‘We for Fatorda’. Take note, the NGO had sterilised over 2,000 dogs from Margao and Fatorda just over a year ago during a camp coordinated by the Margao Municipal Council.
Just few metres away from the ongoing dog sterilisation camp site is Goa’s mega retail fish market, owned and operated by the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA). Strange it may sound, but true, the mega market plays host to large number of stray dogs and puppies, besides cats, indicating that the population of strays is on the rise.
Says activist Avinash Tavares: “It’s indeed strange to find so many dogs and cats, besides puppies in the SGPDA fish market around the market corner near the groceries section. It is apparent that unscrupulous people come and abandon the stray dogs and cats in the market. This may throw the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme haywire.”
Stray dogs take over Govt Junta quarters at Pajifond
Like many a housing society, the Government Junta quarters is no different when it comes to stray dogs. Local residents as well as officials concede that while the number of government officials and servants residing in the housing quarters has been going down, the stray dog population has seen an alarming rise. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find pack of dogs in and around every building, manning their respective turf from intrusion by strays.
Local residents pointed out that the ABC programme is only on the record books of the Margao Municipal Council. “What is this ABC programme? Who is supposed to execute the programme? For years now, we haven’t seen any dog catchers in the housing complex to catch dogs? And, we have not seen the Margao Municipality or any NGO descending in the quarters to catch dogs for sterilisation,” informed a local resident.
Another resident added: “This ABC programme is nothing, but a sham. Otherwise, how does one explain that the canines are involved in giving births, not once, but twice a year? This only goes to show that no sterilisation of the dogs is being carried as part of the ABC programme.”
The best time, citizens say, to assess the gravity of the stray dog menace in the commercial capital is either late evenings or early morning, shortly after dawn. In fact, a citizen said Margao councillors and the Municipal Babus and the powers that be should drive down on the city roads during this time to see for themselves and to get an insight into the burning issue. For, the Margao Municipal Council, has been found wanting in discharging its duties and abdicating its responsibility in addressing the burning issue.
ABC programme outsourced but paralysed due to MMC’s apathy
Visitors to the Margao Municipal building often come across strays making the entrance to the building their resting place. In fact, pose a question to the Margao councillors or the Municipal Babus over the rising stray dog population in the commercial capital, and do not be surprised to get a reply that the civic body has outsourced the ABC programme to animal welfare organisations.
However, consider this: The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked with a city-based NGO had lapsed way back in the year 2020. For the next three years, the MoU was not renewed for reasons best known to the civic body.
Around mid-last year, the MMC inked a MoU with the NGO, but without floating an Expression of Interest (EOI). What’s, however, interesting to note is that despite the MoU in place, the MMC is yet to release the promised funds to the NGO to carry out the ABC programme, promoting the NGO to cut down on the manpower with no funds at its disposal to make the salary and wage payments.
Even the dog catching vehicle has not been handed over to the NGO to transport sick or injured stray dogs to the shelter, leaving the system paralysed.
