Punjab: NGOs in Patiala, cops in Ropar come forward to feed hungry stray dogs,wild monkeys

PATIALA: The lockdown across the state since more than a week has left stray dogs and animals hungry. In Patiala, some NGOs have come forward to feed the stray dogs and cattle while in Ropar the cops have been feeding wild monkeys and stray dogs.
Gurmukh Guru from NGO Vande Matram said, "We have been feeding the stray dogs and cattle since more than a week. We are covering around 450 stray dogs and feed them daily with breads, milk, rusk, Chapatis etc.We have formed separate teams of two men each for this purpose of feeding stray dogs as the administration has asked us not to gather. Only in Patiala city we have eight teams having two members each to feed the stray dogs or else they would have died of starvation."
He added, "Besides, we are feeding the stray cattle every day by providing them with the fodder. But for this we have only two teams with each consisting four persons who ferry the fodder in the jeeps or vans and feed the stray cattle. Volunteers are coming on their own to help us by providing funds and fodder to feed the stray cattle and dogs". Gurmukh claimed that the NGO was also distributing ration and medicines among the poor in accordance to their capacity.
Meanwhile the Ropar police released a video of feeding the wild monkeys, mostly in Anandpur Sahib and Nangal areas. Earlier the commuters used to feed them with bread etc however following lockdown and no traffic on roads these monkeys are allegedly reaching to the city areas to look for food. The police said that the dogs and monkeys were being fed with the food that remains behind after being distributed among the poor residents in the slum areas.
Swapan Sharma, SSP Ropar said, "Our cops are on duty to provide cooked food among the poor in slum areas. Many volunteers are also participating in providing the food to the poor and whatever food is left behind after distribution or we fear is being rotten, the cops immediately feed the stray dogs and monkeys who have come in the city areas following lack of food."
Similarly, in Punjabi University the dog lovers including security guards and faculty members staying inside the university are feeding the stray dogs inside university.
Gurpreet Ratol, a playwright, said, “I am having a passion to feed and take care of stray dogs. There are around 75 stray dogs inside the university. Two puppies have died of starvation and even dogs do not get water following the shutdown of the university amid COVID19 threat. The faculty members and some guards are also feeding these dogs on humanitarian grounds. The dogs earlier used to get food remains near canteens and other places but now there are no students and also the faculty.