The incidence of several pet dogs of various premier breeds turning into stray dogs along the Chennai national highway in Satyavedu and Nagalapuram, after they get abandoned by their owners, is on the rise in recent months.
The phenomenon is attributed to the COVID-19 crisis, as several pet reportedly owners find it tough to maintain the sick, mangy and ageing canines.
Several of the pet dogs found abandoned at the roadside and close to the forested villages in these two border mandals are found to be suffering from terminal illnesses, invalid and moving close to their happy hunting grounds. The sighting of the pets in the area started from April onwards, when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging in Chennai and surrounding areas in Tamil Nadu.
Several pet owners reportedly neglected the health of their pets fearing exposure to COVID-19 if they visited the vet clinic. Between May and August, the virus spread was dreadful in Tamil Nadu and in Chittoor district as well.
In mid-September, some residents of a forested hamlet Karani, a few km from Uttukottai (Tamil Nadu) sighted a high-end car halting by the roadside and a man emerging from it with a Labrador. In a few seconds, the car sped away towards Tamil Nadu, abandoning the pet. The ageing dog used all its strength to catch up with the vehicle, but collapsed on the road. Some villagers served it food for a couple of days, but it didn’t touch any, and finally died. The villagers said four such pets were crushed under wheels of speeding vehicles in a span of three months.
Rescue
Yesupadam (62), popularly known as Bhairava Swami, who runs an exclusive ashram for canines at Rajula Kandriga village of Nagalapuram mandal, had rescued half a dozen abandoned pets since the COVID-19 lockdown. His daughter Priya (30) had visited several villages along the Chennai National Highway in the two mandals to request people to inform the ashram in case they found any precariously abandoned pet. With emergence of the additional members into the canine ashram, the father-daughter duo had improved the facilities further by acquiring an additional piece of land for 60 canines.
“Abandoning of pets is a painful experience. The owners resort to the extreme step as they couldn’t just bear their suffering at the last hour. Maintenance of pets has also turned a costly affair for many middle-class sections post-COVID crisis. During my four decades of stint with canines, I know that the prime reason for abandoning of pets happens when its original owner is no more, and when they come under the care of relatives or secondary caretakers,” Mr. Yesupadam said.
