Thousands of stray animals, particularly cats and dogs, are threatened with starvation as their main source of food - leftovers from hotels and restaurants - is almost non-existent due to the countrywide shutdown since March 26.
With almost three weeks gone since the general holiday came into operation, many animals are nowadays found desperately searching for food on the streets as all the hotels and restaurants are closed, with only a handful of them operating to provide home delivery services.
In this situation, the government said it has nothing to offer for these stray animals, but has instead called upon voluntary organizations to lend their hand in supporting the animals.
SM Rezaul Karim, minister of Fisheries and Livestock, told Dhaka Tribune that the ministry had no budget allocation for providing food to street animals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We urge animal lovers to come forward in their individual capacities to provide food to the street animals,” he added.
A number of voluntary organizations have already come forward to support stray animals, but it has been becoming harder by the day for them to continue their activities.
“If the shutdown stretches for more days, it will become difficult for the voluntary organizations to continue feeding the stray animals,” said Rakibul Haq Emil, chairman of the People for Animal Welfare (PAW) Foundation.
Sources at the Directorate General of the Health Services (DGHS) said there were around 60,000 stray dogs in the areas under Dhaka’s two city corporations. Last year, the Communicable Disease Control (CDC) department of DGHS vaccinated over 48,000 dogs in various areas of the city.
Besides cats and dogs, monkeys, rats, crows, martins, and sparrows are also largely seen in many places of the city.
Fighting to feed stray animals
Animal lovers and welfare organizations are trying to provide food to stray animals in different areas of the city.
Under organizational initiatives, People for Animal Welfare (PAW) Foundation, Obhoyaronno, Bangladesh Animal Welfare Foundation, Eco-Savers Foundation, and Robin Hood The Animal Rescuer are working in different areas.
Businessperson Orpita Khan Mohua, with a few other volunteers, has initiated a program called “food for street animals.”
Under the program the group provides cooked meals to more than 350 dogs everyday in Baridhara, Nodda, Kuril, Airport railway station, Nikunja, and Kalachandpur areas of Dhaka.
It costs about Tk4500 to prepare the meals, said Mohua.
Photo: Collected
“We do not know how long we can continue the program under personal sponsorship. If the government helps us, then the program can continue without interruption,” she said, seeking government intervention.
PAW Foundation is also providing food through two temporary stations at Uttara and Rayerbazar Community Center, with more than 10 volunteers working in Uttara, Dhanmondi, Rayerbazar and Mirpur.
On the matter of giving dry food to dogs, PAW Foundation Chairman Rakibul Haq Emil said the imported dry food would not be suitable for stray dogs, as the animals might then lose interest in finding food from available sources when the crisis is over.
Five volunteers of the Deep Ecology and Snake Rescue Organization are also working to feed street dogs, cats, crows, martins, sparrows and water monitors at the Jahangirnagar University campus and its surroundings.
Eco Savers Foundation is providing bananas to a group of monkeys. About 40 monkeys are in the surrounding areas of Dhanmondi’s Pilkhana and 150 in various alleyways of Old Dhaka.
Aminul Islam Mithu, a wildlife journalist and chairman of Eco Savers Foundation, said, “Following our activities, now the younger generation is coming forward for animal welfare.
“To create more public awareness about wildlife, the government should include the subject in the national curriculum,” he opined.
Following the pandemic, Ruksath Hoque at Dhanmondi, Curzon Hall Animal Welfare Society at the Dhaka University campus, Shireen Karim and her daughter Sabeera Keyfiath at Lalmatia, Tareq Mahmud Ansho and Pantha Saha at Rayerbazar, Nazmus Sakib and his wife Farhaz Aziz in Motijheel commercial area are feeding street animals on their personal initiative.
The PAW Foundation is also providing meals to street dogs in Jessore and Khulna city.
However, everyone is apprehensive about how long they can continue their efforts.
What decides the animals’ survival
Responding to a question on how long the animals could survive if the situation continues, Sushyam Biswas, a veterinary doctor, told Dhaka Tribune that it depended on the age of the animal and on its physical and mental strength.
The time of the last meal, state of health or wellness of dogs and hydration levels of the body are also major criteria for consideration.
“At least one meal a day could help them survive in the emergency situation,” the doctor said, requesting animal lovers to also provide water along with food.
150 horses starving
Around 150 horses are now faced with food scarcity in Gulistan, Dhaka, as the shutdown is being enforced.
The horses, used for pulling traditional horse carts, are in trouble as the carts cannot operate during the shutdown.
"Though we have no income, we need to provide food for them every day,” said Nizam Uddin, a horse-cart owner.
Nizam, who owns seven horses, used to spend Tk350 daily for feeding each of the horses.
No protection measures in new law
The protection and improvement of the environment and biodiversity is a fundamental principle of state policy in the Bangladesh constitution.
Article 18A of the constitution says that the state shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to preserve and safeguard natural resources, bio-diversity, wetlands, forests and wildlife for the present and future generations.
The government in 2019 passed the Animal Welfare Act, but it does not say anything on food allocation for stray animals during any emergency situation, including a pandemic.
On April 8, PAW Foundation sent a letter to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock requesting that the authorities be ordered to come forward in helping volunteers to provide food to street animals and also take necessary steps to save them.
