Animal rights group, PAL (Pure Animal Lover), has set up nearly 3500 feeding bowls for stray animals in localities in Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Navi Mumbai, and Thane, to help them during the coming summer season.
The bowls will be filled with drinking water and will be cleaned every day by volunteers. Vandals who try to destroy or steal the bowls have been warned of criminal prosecution by Sudhir Kudalkar, Senior Inspector of MHB Police Station, Borivali, an animal lover who had set up PAL during the Covid-19 epidemic to feed and take care of stray animals. The group now claims to have 8000 members.
Kudalkar said in a social media post that with the onset of summers stray animals and birds will suffer in the torrid heat if they did not get access to clean drinking water.
Feeding of stray animals, especially dogs, has been a source of friction in the city, with incidents of feeders having been violently attacked by those who do not want the animals in their localities. There have also been cases where stray animals have been poisoned or beaten to death.
Kudalkar's group offers legal support to feeders who face hostility or violence. The bowls, which can be kept in building compounds and footpaths, are made of cement and marked with the name of the organisation. Municipal workers have been told that they should not remove the bowls. Those accused of damaging the bowls will be prosecuted under Section 427 of the Indian Penal Code and thieves will be charged under Section 379, Kudalkar has warned.
