A group of youths braved heavy rains one recent Sunday to vaccinate nearly 60 dogs in New Town and Kestopur. The group had come from Naihati and while they work all over the state, had chosen this area for their activity last month.
“Some of our members come to work or study in this area and know there is a sizeable street dog population here. We wanted to vaccinate them against rabies and keep the dogs, as well as those around them, safe,” said Sourashis Ghosh, founder and president of Proyash Welfare Association.
The rabies virus is primarily transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal, usually via a bite. It can be transmitted from animals to humans, too. A rabid dog may become aggressive and vicious; a rabid human may develop hydrophobia, painful spasms, and the disease is almost always fatal. This is why a human bitten by an unvaccinated dog must take immediate and multiple injections.
The majority of human rabies cases are caused by bites from infected dogs, so vaccinating dogs prevents the spread of the disease. While pet parents are usually informed and are responsible enough to inoculate their dogs and cats annually, street dogs are typically ignored.
The youths had targeted the New Town bus terminus area, but the rain had sent most dogs scurrying for unknown shelters. So the youths entered Kestopur. With them were two dogcatchers who work with Calcutta Municipal Corporation — Sougata Patra and Haripada Halder. The duo seemed to be attracting the dogs easily by offering biscuits or simply offering to pet them. They quickly injected the vaccine without a protest from the canines and then let them go.
Halder, however, showed severe bite marks on his limbs, for which he has needed hospitalisation before. “This is a tough job and often we don’t get co-operation from people,” said Patra, who does vaccination and sterilisation drives for NGOs too. “Even dog lovers mistrust us sometimes, thinking we are harming the dogs or taking them away forcefully. Our attempt is to ensure the welfare of dogs, so we don’t even use the lasso to catch them, as it hurts. We use the net instead..
Sourashis, a UPSC aspirant, visits Nazrul Tirtha library, and member Anwesha Chakraborty works in Sector V and lives in Kestopur, so they had done a recce of the terrain beforehand. “This is our first drive in New Town, but vaccinations need to be repeated annually, and we shall be back next year. We aren’t marking vaccinated dogs with colour as it is harmful for them, nor are we giving them belts as the dogs tend to wriggle out of them. But we shall return to the same spots and inoculate as many dogs as we find,” said Sourashis.
The NGO had begun in 2020 with a capital of Rs 700 contributed by its seven founding members. They work across fields now, including animal welfare. “We have heard how street dogs were poisoned in New Town a few months ago, without adequate infrastructure. “Such extreme measures stem from a fear of bites and rabies. This drive is an answer to that,” said Anwesha.