For animal activists, Diwali is a difficult time when they receive countless cases of animals getting injured, accidentally or intentionally, by fireworks, or running away from their homes out of fear due to the noise pollution that is characteristic of the festival.
This year too, like every year, they spread awareness about the adverse way noisy crackers affect animals. They spoke to children, approached police stations, and even spread messages through Facebook and Whatsapp to alert citizens to report any cruelty and missing cases. Their efforts, coupled with the hiked prices of fire crackers seem to have paid off. The Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) at Parel said there was a 25% dip in the number of bird injuries reported to its hospital.
Dr J C Khanna, secretary-officer in-charge of the BSPCA hospital, said, "The number of injured birds and animals being brought in during Diwali has come down since 2010. As compared to last year, the number of bird injury cases reported to us has come down by 25 per cent. Usually, several injured kites, sparrows, pigeons are brought to us during this period. This time, in these three days, we received 18 birds. Sometimes children tie fire crackers to the tails of dogs, cats and goats. We haven't got such cases yet. It is all due to the awareness spread about the importance of an eco-friendly Diwali and the price of fire crackers going up."
Omkar Rane, who is a part of the rescue operation squad of NGO Shram, said, "Yesterday (Wednesday) I got a call to rescue a baby house sparrow which fell from a tree. One dog also went missing from Juhu due to the noise of crackers. It is true that the calls received are fewer this year. Maybe it is because of the awareness drives."
However, Ganesh Nayak, founder of NGO Animals Matter to Me, said there was still a lot of work to be as cruelty cases were still coming. "During the 10 days before Diwali, we got at least 6 injury cases, while 10 to 12 dogs went missing from their home and areas. We do spread awareness among school children, but cruelty on animals is still very much prevalent. When we go to police station to file cases of animal cruelty, they prioritise human over animals. Yesterday night itself I found a dog with severe injuries on its neck, which was tied with ropes and bottles used to burst firecrackers."
If you spot an injured animal, call:
BSPCA: 24137518/5285
Shram's rescue operation squad: 9619933223
Animals Matter to Me: 9820335799
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