Call for animal welfare body

Calls for measures and systems to save stray animals, neuter and release them have been on the rise to protect them from peril.

Touched by the increasing number of cases where strays are subject to the human ordeal, a group of animal lovers has come forward requesting a regulation to protect these homeless creatures from dangers.

Speaking to the Observer, a group of women who work for the welfare of the wadi dogs by feeding them within their housing compound said there needs to be an Animal Welfare Body to take the cause forward.

“The Sultanate of Oman is the most beautiful, safe, hospitable country, and this country is simply amazing. Omanis smile from the heart, and this country is a paradise for both the citizens and the residents. Still, we need to have a body to protect stray animals and ensure their well-being. For this, we need to have an awareness campaign,” Neha Chakraborty, one of the animal lovers, said.

This group of women feed, neuter and release such stray, wadi dogs inside their housing compound and ensure that their over-population is controlled. They recently neutered two packs of 10 dogs and were vaccinated. No more puppies are born besides the existing ones, and all are disease-free.

Side by side, they allow the adoption of these dogs once they are tamed. “We are working closely with Pet Care, and we work with the vet at a negotiated price and help to vaccinate and neuter animals. If we find puppies, we report them to the clinic, and they check them and take action against ticks and other flies. Eventually, we give them to new owners for free, and we take their contact numbers so that if the dog is lost, we can report it,” she added.

They request only an official body designated to look after the affairs of both domesticated and stray animals. Can they be protected from getting killed, especially in front of the children, and from letting them live with the bullets inside their bodies lifelong?

Asked about the potential dangers that such strays can pose, the group of women said they need to make sure that the population remains controlled and these dogs don’t encroach on the residential areas.

“The problem begins when we encroached on their habitats and redesigned their areas into our fashions as the population increased faster. Their reproduction needs to be controlled, and adoption should be encouraged. Once their basic needs are met, we don’t think they would pose any danger to the neighbourhoods.”

They advocate the TNR programme (Trap-Neuter-Return), which is essential to the process. If the goal is to keep the population decreasing, fixed cats need to be returned to the location where they were trapped. Of course, it’s in the best interest of the cats to go back to their original location. The proper process of rehoming is long, sometimes tedious and isn’t always successful. Often, recently rehomed cats leave the new location to return home and are killed in the process of crossing busy intersections.

According to them, only humans are the reason for the existence of stray animals as humans dump rubbish, and as long as there is rubbish, there will be street/feral.