Tripura Gives Special Permits to NGOs to Feed Stray Animals amid Lockdown

Agartala, March 28, 2020:

Taking cognizance of the inconvenience caused to animals amid the nation 21-day lockdown, the West Tripura district magistrate has issued passes to two NGOs so that they can take care of stray animals who are suffering due to a lack of sustenance.

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It has been observed that ever since the restaurants, hotels, food-joints were ordered to be closed, the stray animals on the streets, mostly dogs and cats, started facing a food crisis.

"The only source of food for the stray animals are the left overs of the eateries. But, since the food joints have been closed completely, street animals have no alternative source of food. which has caused them great distress. Thus, we have decided to issue passes to some of the NGOs fighting for animal rights”, said District Magistrate of West Tripura, Sandeep Mahatme.

In his order, Mahatme also mentioned that if the stray animals were not properly it would lead to mass deaths, and could further pollute the environment. “Mass deaths of stray animals would cause serious issues. To avoid such a situation, passes were issued to the NGOs but that too taking into account the social distancing protocols imposed by the government. Only one two wheeler carrying two volunteers would be allowed to move who would stand engaged with this initiative”, Mahatme concluded.

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Notably, as of now two NGOs -- Pawsome and K-9 -- have been okayed to do the job. A member of Pawesome, Wrigbed Deb said, “The DM had issued us passes to carry out our work. We have been dealing with animal rights issues for long and this order shows as to how much we are dedicated to our services to stray animals, who have no one to take care of them." He also said that the NGO workers would follow the protocols and restrictions imposed by the government in movement of people.

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