India, in spite of its rich and ancient heritage has a dismal record of neglect of animal welfare. Most distressing and dismal is the fact that in every city, town and village there are scores of destitute and abandoned dogs, cats and cattle roaming the streets, without food and water, eking out a miserable life. This situation continues to enlarge mainly due to negligent animal welfare.
However, there are philanthropic individuals, who because of their inherent love for animals, run local area shelters for these helpless animals, and provide them food and health care services, within their means. They depend on their own resources and donations from the general public, with a constant struggle to find means of meeting the expenses.
There is an Animal Welfare Board within the Ministry of Environment & Forests. The constitution of the Board is avowed animal welfare, but the Board is so bureaucratic and red tape bound, that its usefulness is a myth. We, implore that you would please use your high offices to look into the functioning of the Board and recast its primary function of encouraging running of local area shelters for destitute animals, without too much red tape and bureaucracy. Mahendra (ph 091-040-23733066)
