Earlier this week I made a post on Facebook reaching out to my family and friends to help Rhys and I feed as many homeless street dogs as possible for our last month of adventure in India. The post was shared by some and pasted into groups by others and I am so glad to say that in 7 days we have raised over $300 NZ and the money keeps flowing in to the dog dinner fund. Such amazing work can be achieved when people come together to help each living being on this planet – imagine if we could all stand in unity what greatness could be shared to people and animals world wide. This is such a great gesture of the existence of love for people to give something of their own to help another life. Why feed dogs when there are humans that need help in India?: Many people know even those who have not visited know that India is a country that screams poverty. It surrounds you in every town you visit and is prevalent on almost every street. Majority of people here live off very little and life is often considered disposable human or animal. There are people and animals both living on the streets all begging for money to sustain life. I do not want to compare the worth of human vs animal life and will say only that dogs are less able to ask for help when desperately needed and are completely honest in all situations. If I see a human in dire need of help I will always offer a helping hand to them also. Street dogs are often very shy and steer away from people. This is because of the constant beatings and swipes they receive daily just for being dogs. Street dogs are constantly looked down upon as dirty, sickly creatures by majority of locals and are even drawn into situations only to be hit or swiped at by a nasty person. There are many times I have seen dogs kicked and whacked and have had to tell a person to stop what they are doing - one man even replied that ‘he didn’t like dogs’ assuming this gives him the right to kick a puppy out of his way. Animals can easily pull on heart strings especially vulnerable, skinny and helpless animals living on the streets. Mountain dogs in India are covered in lots of fur to keep them warm which helps them in the Winter months when they are left to their own outside. Beach dogs in India look much skinnier as they have far less fur and usually roam the hot beaches all day keeping guard of their territory. Feeding a large pack of street dogs in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. Feeding the dogs: We originally stated that $1 NZ could feed one street dog but we completely over estimated the cost of feeding strays. Most meals for the dogs consist of a large handful or two of fried rice with vegetables – a cheaper and more filling meal than most other options that are available. We will usually purchase 5 portions of fried rice (one portion costing around $2 NZ) open them all into one cloth bag to let them cool and then roam the streets where we have seen dogs needing a feed to hand out dinner/lunch. Some of the dogs can be super picky and won’t eat the rice (mainly in Manali) so we offer biscuits with it or instead and they love the biscuits. The biscuits we purchase are called ‘50/50 Sweet and Salty’ for 10 rupees per pack. One pack will feed 1-2 dogs depending on dog size. Just be aware when hand feeding biscuits that some of the dogs can be a little snappy as they get super excited about food. Feeding street dogs can be tricky business as they can not be fed all together. Street dogs are usually always hanging out in packs but will fight or growl at their own pack members when food is involved. The larger more alpha dogs will growl or attack younger dogs so that they can eat first so my trick is to always feed and distract the older dogs and make separate piles for the energetic pups. Always make separate piles for the dogs you are feeding so that they don’t start to get all crazy and fight or growl at each other. Some dogs eat super fast and then try to intrude on others meals. If you are standing near by and tell them to stop they usually will but it depends on just how hungry they are. An easy way to spot the mother of pups is that she will never fight with her pups for food and will always gladly share with them no matter how quickly they gobble up the meal. A mother protecting her babies from other street dogs hides and lives next to a local car park in the darkest corner. We offer her crackers, rice and fresh water. Each day we have been handing out food to all the dogs we can find and I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped contribute to the dog dinner fund. Every single $ has helped in a huge way! The aim is to continue feeding homeless doggies daily until the end of our trip in India and if we have money left over at the end we will collectively decide with everyone who has made a contribution what to do from there. We have considered donating to dog loving charities in India to help feed the large amount of homeless dogs in the bigger cities like Delhi (where we will visit at the very end of our trip and will definitely roam the streets to feed some doggies). The hardest part of this all is hoping that some great folks carry on this work when we are gone. This is only a tiny scratch in the work that I want and plan to do for street animals in the near future. Feeding the hungry and helping even in the slightest way. When you see the dogs wagging their tails and coming for pats and hugs to say thank you it is clear to see that you have made a difference for them even on just one day of their lives. Remember to help each other especially those in need, human and otherwise. If you have any questions about India: The Street Dog Mission please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can find all contact details on the ‘CONNECT’ page and you can stay up to date via my facebook pages ‘The Vegan Yogi’ and ‘Mind Body Flow’. Alana xx The dogs want to say 'Thank you' to everyone who has helped us on this mission.
1 Comment
Golnaz
6/15/2016 02:47:49 pm
It hurts my heart so much to see so many of these beautiful, innocent, loyal creatures left to fend on their own and I too pray so damned hard that someone else will carry on this noble work you two have done. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this, I believe such nobility makes vast ripples throughout the universe, and give hope to the hopeless.
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