Blue Cross Hyderabad, UFERWAS workshop discusses stray dog menace, measures

Hyderabad: UFERWAS and Blue Cross Hyderabad hosted an interactive session to discuss and tackle the dog attacks that are happening in Hyderabad.

UFERWAS is the apex body of Hyderabad’s Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) that works on many facets of civil society with the primary goal of enhancing the efficiency and quality of services offered to citizens by various municipal institutions. It is in this context that UFERWAS is hosting an interactive workshop on “Stray Dogs Management” in view of the recent incidents.

The session was organised by UFERWAS, Blue Cross Hyderabad, with involvement from the GHMC and RWAs/NGOs from around the city. Participants included RWA members from Malkajgiri, Shantinagar, Bowenpally, Begumpet, Mehdipatnam, and Secunderabad.

B.T. Srinivasan, general secretary of UFERWAS, welcomed the attendees and stated that UFERWAS would always serve as a link between the people and municipal agencies. Amala Akkineni, the founding chairperson of Blue Cross Hyderabad, spoke about the importance of RWAs and the community in fostering compassion for stray dogs. She discussed coexistence and shared experiences.

She further stated that she founded Blue Cross in Shantinagar 30 years ago and that dog sterilisations used to take place in the Shantinagar Government Veterinary Hospital until the animal welfare organisation was relocated to Jubilee Hills Road No. 35.

“Most dogs adore humans and there are 50,000 years of documented evidence,” she said.

She also emphasised the significance of ABC, ARV, and community dog management programmes.

Residents addressed issues such as efficiently implementing the sterilising campaign, providing water stations and common feeding places, and minimising food waste in the rubbish, which was moderated by Ashwin Kumar, president of Shantinagar Welfare Association, and Maj Shiva Kiran of UFERWAS.

On the occasion, a poster listing the dos and don’ts was also released. A map of Hyderabad city, with RWAs and NGOs marking the dense stray dog populations, was submitted to the GHMC for priority action.

The workshop concluded with a summary of the role RWAs and communities may play in stray dog management.

Animal activists, cynophiles, UFERWAS executive members, RWA representatives, GHMC officials, and others were also present. The program ended with an interactive Q&A session in which Amala, Vivekanand, and Kumari answered questions from those in attendance.