Delhi: At Amma’s famous dog centre, rise in abandoned pets even as funds dry up

NEW DELHI: A dog shelter run by an elderly woman, Pratima Devi, fondly called Amma, near the PVR Anupam complex in Saket has seen many cases of canines being abandoned by their owners during the second Covid-19 wave. The helpers at the shelter have reported over 15 such recent cases. The surge in the number of infections has also dried up donations.
Devi, who came to Delhi in the early 1980s from Nandigram in West Bengal, has been living in a shanty for the last three decades and often works as a ragpicker. Pawan Kumar, who helps her in running the shelter, said, “We are feeding around 300 dogs at the shelter, apart from around 100 dogs in the neighbourhood and the market. We have seen many new dogs abandoned by their owners in the closed marketplace.”
In November 2017, the makeshift shelter was razed by the municipal corporation, but Devi salvaged things from the rubble and restarted operations with the help of animal lovers. Earlier, TOI had reported how the deadly second wave of the pandemic was tough on animals. In many cases, the guardians of the pets had passed away. Animal shelters like Friendicoes-SECA and Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre had also provided refuge to many such abandoned pets.
Meanwhile, Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has written to the chief secretaries of various states to allocate money for feeding stray animals, while recognising veterinarians and animal feeders as frontline workers.

The letter by AWBI director Dr OP Chaudhary stated that animal lovers, welfare activists and veterinarians were risking their lives while rescuing and taking care of the animals. They were also travelling to nearby areas and veterinary clinics for treatment of injured or sick animals. However, they had not been designated as frontline workers. It was noted that Odisha had allotted funds from the CM Relief Fund for feeding stray animals. “Kindly allocate sufficient funds for feeding of community animals and include veterinarians and animal feeders as frontline workers,” the letter concluded.
The disturbing trend of dogs being abandoned has been witnessed across the country. A large number of pets were let go during the initial phase of the pandemic, perhaps due to misinformation that animals could spread the novel coronavirus. While isolated cases of pets testing positive had been found, World Health Organisation had repeatedly clarified that there was no evidence that the virus could be transmitted from pets to humans.

Source: Times Of India, Not edited by DogExpress staff