From: Poornima Harish [mailto: arfindia@hotmail. com]
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 3:53 PM
Subject: Re: PLEASE, HELP POOR DOGS IN INDIA

Thank you for your interest in saving animals in Bangalore. We are deeply touched by the national, international response to the issue. Update:

1.. The catching and killing of dogs is not happening in Bangalore. We are maintaining vigil.

2.. As we had shared in our previous update, a Public Relations exercise is being organised in Bangalore to build public confidence and counter the panic. As part of this about 100,000 leaflets are going to be distributed through newspaper vendors. This insert was paid for by a donation from Phil Wollen, Winsome Constance Kindness Trust in Australia.

3.. We are helping to prepare an information kit for use by MLAs (and perhaps others) in the state legislative assembly in order to improve their understanding of dog population control and related issues.

4.. In the next one week or so, it is likely that at least three PILs will come up for hearing in the Karnataka High Court. Animal groups are being represented in all such cases. The AWBI too is being heard as an interested party.

5.. The Lingayats have commenced a fast in Bangalore to protest the killing of dogs. The Lingayat caste is one of the two dominant castes in Karnataka, spread mostly in the Northern part of the state. The community is a Hindu sect known for their fierce Shaivism and are staunch vegetarians.

6.. A group of animal lovers held a protest in Bangalore on 31 March 07 against the killing of dogs.

7.. The AWBI on its part is putting out a paid public service announcement (in the form of an advertisement) in newspapers in Bangalore. Through AWBI facilitation, the Ahmedabad Animal Help Foundation has been contracted by the Bangalore Municipal Corporation to start sterilizing animals in the city. The AWBI President along with a WHO representative met with the Bangalore Municipal Commissioner and impressed upon the need for a systematic, scientific programme for controlling street dogs. AWBI representatives have also been sent to other towns in Karnataka to liaise with municipal authorities in order to reduce knee jerk reactions. The AWBI has written to Chief Secretaries of all states emphasizing the need for states to adopt ABC programmes instead of random extermination drives.

Poornima