Sat Mag
UK resident rooting for Sri Lankan street dogs
Continued from yesterday
He explained that the community receives high-quality service free of charge. “There are many people who cannot afford surgeries and vaccines in the areas we work in. Dogstar offers it for free. We educate the community on rabies control and pet ownership. We help to enhance the health of community dogs, giving them a better chance to co-exist with the community.”
Team Blue, Deputy team leader Duminda Liyanage got to know about Dogstar through his brother-in-law who also works for Dogstar. Liyanage has been with Dogstra for five years. “We help to control rabies, one of the most dangerous viruses in the world. We have processes in place, we use technology to ensure sustainability.” He admitted that the skills and knowledge they acquire through international standard training are irreplaceable.
“We also offer to collect the dogs from owners who cannot travel to a clinic and bring them back,” said Liyanage. He believed that animals that are spayed or neutered and vaccinated against rabies are more accepted by the community which allows the dogs to live a happy life. “Conflicts that arise due to unwanted puppies and issues related to stray dogs and rabies are mostly reduced. People tend to care for and adopt community dogs that have already been neutered,” he said. Liyanage believes that the programme had made a huge difference at both personal and community levels. “Personally, I have learned more about animal behaviour and welfare which allows me to help people or owners in need. And job security is very reassuring. Especially during the COVID-19 period.
Project Assistant Anjali de Silva joined Dogstar as a volunteer and became a permanent staff member in 2017. “We are very focused on animal welfare and the priority is to control dogs and cat population humanely. Dogstar constantly adopts new ways that could enhance the quality of the free service we offer to the community. Not to mention constant learning opportunities from the international professionals who are at the top of their game,” said de Silva. She is of the opinion that Dogstar has made a significant difference in the areas it operates. “Stray dog population has been controlled to a great extent, not to mention the improved overall health of the stray dogs.” She pointed out that the community education programmes are focused on promoting responsible pet ownership and animal welfare.
She admitted that the programme has made a huge positive impact on her personal life. “I’m constantly challenged to perform better as both my superiors are perfectionists. We are given tools to learn new things, be it animal-related or management related. We are empowered to make decisions to achieve our targets, our ideas and opinions are always considered. And most importantly the opportunities I’m presented with to learn and grow professionally is massively beneficial.”
The major benefits to the community, are the humane control of dog and cat population and rabies control. “And 90% of our staff are locals. That’s because Samantha always gives priority to recruiting Sri Lankans. So as Dogstar grew over the years it has created many job opportunities for locals.” de Silva pointed out the numerous other ways Dogstar is helping the community; donating dry rations to vulnerable families during the lockdown, sponsoring breakfast at an underprivileged local school called Yawajeewa every day and offering work opportunities to its students once they complete their education.
But Samantha couldn’t have done it without her husband Mark, whose role as the Deputy in Country Director is to support Samantha’s vision and help her make it happen. “What Samantha is doing here is making a change to so many people, it’s making communities safe, and it’s improving the welfare and lives of the dogs,” said Mark, who has no regrets about coming to Sri Lanka.
Samantha hopes one day she would be able to pass the torch on to one of her assistants. Her husband’s role is to support Samantha’s vision and help her make it happen. When asked whether he has any regrets about uprooting his life in the UK to start Dogstar, Mark said he has no regrets. “What Samantha is doing here is making a change to so many people, it’s making communities safe, and it’s improving the welfare and lives of the dogs.”
Typical day
What is a typical day in Samantha’s life at Dogstar like? Samantha said it varies and no two days are alike. She spends a lot of time in her office budgeting, financial forecasting and coordinating with government departments such as the Ministry of Health, Rabies eradication programme and PHIs. “People often say that they would love to do what I do for a living, ‘being with dogs all day’. In truth it involves a lot more paperwork than people would think.” She admitted that although she makes every effort to spend time with the dogs, often the only dogs whose company she is in are her own pet dogs. Having said that, Samantha admitted that project management skills of her old job were vital to the success of the programme. “It is much like running a business,” explained Samantha. “Products are our services and shareholders are donors.” Hopefully, without further lockdowns, Samantha and her team are looking to sterilize 11,000 dogs and up to 3,000 cats. The current project is keeping her fully occupied with spreadsheets and Gantt Chart.
Their work involves an initial census and awareness campaign. The owners are then given the option of bringing their animals to the clinic or requesting the team to transport the animal to the clinic. Roaming dogs are netted and brought to the clinic. Surgery is performed and the animals are micro-chipped to keep track of all the information from age to their home range. “This way, after they are released, we are able to follow-up on them.” The process is wrapped up with another census, of the number of dogs sterilized. Some dogs are so clever that they skip town for the duration.
“Our target is to sterilize at least 90 percent of the population.” Samantha vouches that this is far more effective than culling, done in certain western countries. There are other advantages of reduced dog population that the average Sri Lankan is oblivious to, such as less fighting among dogs over resources and territory, lower dog bite incidence and resulting change in attitudes. Samantha pointed out that, as the numbers drop and dogs become healthier, they cease to be a nuisance. The community becomes more sympathetic towards them as they are not overwhelmed by a large number of dogs. Consequently, the balance between people and dogs matter, Samantha reiterated. “We have a static dog population now and most of them are vaccinated.”
Challenges
Samantha admits that anyone working in animal welfare is faced with many challenges. The major obstacle she has had to face is the resistance on the part of owners to spay neuter their pets. “Their argument is that they don’t want to subject their pet to surgery and neutering is not natural. But they don’t think twice about dumping unwanted litter on the roadside or temples.” Samantha pointed out that the puppies have little chance of survival on the streets. According to her there are too many dogs and not enough good homes.
“There is this idea that imported dogs are better, which is ridiculous,” said Samantha, who sees this as a major reason Sri Lankans do not want to adopt local dogs. “Sri Lankan dogs are amazing. They are possibly healthier than some of the imported breeds and, because of their body weight and short coats, are better adapted to the local climate and far more resistant to disease.”
Dogstar is in the process of creating awareness about the benefits of spay neutering. According to Samantha, getting the services of vets have also proved difficult with only one university, University of Peradeniya, producing 50 to 60 veterinary graduates a year. “Most of them will go into food security, working for the Department of Animal Production and Health or Ministry of Livestock. Some will want to go abroad or continue studies.” There aren’t that many vets for a country of over 21 million people. “Some of the drugs and equipment that we take for granted in Europe are not available here or are very difficult to procure.” While the Dogstar team awaited shipments of supplies, the situation was compounded by cancelled flights and delays at seaports due to the pandemic.
Raising money to sterilize street dogs may not be the most exciting proposition. Thankfully the spay neuter programme is supported by a number of charities and establishments such as Dogs Trust Worldwide, The University of Edinburgh, Worldwide Veterinary Service, Mission Rabies and Foundation Brigitte Bardot. “We have to raise money for everything else from the public, from the UK, Europe and Australia.” Samantha admitted it is difficult to raise all the money required, locally. But with the pandemic putting most of their UK donors out of work, forced to face considerable financial difficulties themselves, times have been difficult for Dogstar.
The Dogstar motto is Eat, Spay, Love. But how does a predominantly Buddhist society, where sterilization of any kind is thoroughly discouraged, take to neutering. Samantha admitted that some do object to it based on their faith beliefs, but many support the programme because their need to alleviate suffering overrides it. Having worked in both predominantly Buddhist and Catholic areas, Samantha said that many places of worship, both Buddhist and Catholic, had offered their premises to conduct clinics. She admitted that the community was naturally suspicious, but are warming up to the concept. “They actually call us for help now.”
Contrary to popular belief, stray dogs and cats aren’t solely responsible for over population and unwanted litter is dumped at temples or roadsides, in which case what may be required is change of attitudes. To address this need, this year Dogstar is stepping up the programme to raise awareness locally.
“There definitely needs to be a change in attitudes,” said Samantha. “For example, one may complain that their neighbour’s dog is barking all the time. Some may be quick to point out that it’s barking because it’s a dog, but the fact is it’s barking because it’s frustrated, because it’s locked in a kennel or chained for 24 hours a day.” She pointed out that people in the community should be encouraged to tackle issues relevant to themselves, working directly with pet owners. She pointed out that owners should also be more attuned to their own responsibilities towards their pets.
She also emphasised the pressing need for legal backing. She said that the proposed Animal Welfare Bill will go a long way in ensuring animal rights. “Everyone in animal welfare is excited about the possibilities a new act could afford us,” said Samantha, who pointed out that the existing laws are archaic and offers hardly any protection to animals. “In any country there are those who are unfortunately cruel to animals. Legislation is the one way that would ensure that animals are safeguarded from such people.” She pointed out that animal rights were non existent 150 years ago. But with the introduction of legislation, people’s mindset was also changed.
To ensure that the work they do is not duplicated Dogstar coordinates with government counterparts such as Ministry of Health and the Department of Animal Production and Health within the Ministry of Livestock and Rural Community Development. And red tape, typical of local government service is nuisance that the Dogstar team has learned to deal with. “Sri Lankan departments have a lot of paperwork that gets moved back and forth a lot. But in the recent past most departments have come on line and conduct online meetings. Although when it comes to reporting most of it is still physical.”
When asked how the Sri Lankan government has reacted to the programme, Samantha informed that the Ministry of Health has shown positive interest in their work. Samantha and her team is more than happy to share their experience and technology pertaining to the spay neuter programme.
The first dog she saved at the temple many years ago eventually made a full recovery and was christened Mango. She is long gone now, true to her name, buried under a mango tree. “If it weren’t for Mango and the monk, I would probably be in London, doing a corporate job.” it begs the question, did she save the dog or vice versa.
Pics courtesy Richard Murgatroyd, Dogs Trust Worldwide