Linta Mary Philip By Express News Service KOCHI: Abiding by the nationwide lockdown, many stores have downed their shutters. So have around the 50 pet shops in the city. Unlike establishments, these shops trade in animals that require food, water and air and the lockdown is spelling hard times for them. According to a circular issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India, all pet shop owners are bound to evacuate these animals to avoid pain and suffering. The board directed the district Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to monitor the task. “When checked, we found that none of them had the provision to do so. This came as no surprise since most of these shops lack basic amenities as mandated by the Pet Shop Rules,” said T K Sajeev, secretary of SPCA. “But since these animals are a source of income for the owners they agreed to come and feed them daily and also to keep the shops open for long enough to ensure air circulation. SPCA will be taking measures against those who cause the death of animals during the period,” added Sajeev. Just as the animals in pets shops, strays are having a hard time. The waste from meat shops and hotels in the city, which were their primary source of food, has ceased. Though the city had a group of kind-hearted people who regularly fed the strays, the lockdown made it hard for them too. As the state nears the seventh day of lockdown, it also means they are running out of time. Animals can stay alive without food and water for only about a week or so. The Animal Welfare Board has also issued a circular directing district administration to make provisions for organisations and individuals to feed these stray animals, but nothing has been done on this front. People who continue to feed animals have requested animal feed suppliers to provide them with dry food due to unavailability of meat. The Seaport Airport road is a stretch preferred by people to abandon animals since it is uninhabited on both sides. The animals left there depend on a waste dump and shop keepers for food, which has now ceased. Similarly, Kaloor, Kadavanthra, Elamkulam, Vytilla regions too have many strays. “When I go out to feed strays, I see a visible tiredness in them. Not just dogs, a large population of stray cattle in urban areas are also affected,’ said Pusha, an animal lover.

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