Around 30 million stray dogs and five million stray cows are estimated to live on the streets of India. Since India went into lockdown to stop the spreading of the novel coronavirus, these animals have been left on their own.
When the lockdown was announced on the 24th of March, animal rights advocates in India immediately started worrying about stray animals. Animal rights activist Anand Siva is based in Mumbai and immediately bought a lot of dog and cat food to give to people and organizations who feed stray animals.
He told The Animal Reader that the situation is complicated in India and the number of stray animals needing help to find food has gone up. The animal rights movement is still very small in India, but it’s growing.
“Dog feeders and street animal lovers are very minuscule in this country. The animal lovers are greatly outnumbered by people who see stray animals as parasites”, Siva said. He gives an example of an army officer that recently shot and killed a dog for no reason in the city of Tezpur.
Listen here to the full interview with Anand Siva:
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