Cops are a dog’s best friend

ACP Ninga Reddy Patil, who heads the city police dog squad, says strays were fed the same food cooked for the dog squad during the lockdown

This one is guaranteed to melt your heart. Dogs belonging to the police canine squad and stray dogs in Bengaluru will be fed nutritious food to stay healthy during the lockdown. This announcement was made by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ninga Reddy Patil, who heads the dog squad at City Armed Reserve (CAR). The Dog Squad team has set up another kitchen in CAR South, next to the kitchen serving food to canines, where nutritious food will be prepared for the strays in the city. The police have teamed up with volunteers who will pick up the food and distribute it.

A few days after the lockdown was imposed, Patil noticed a behavioural change in a few stray dogs who had become inactive due to starvation. He noticed during his rounds that most dogs who were active in the area, were found sleeping under vehicles most of the time. “We realised that most of them were starving and had become weak. Along with a group of volunteers, we decided to feed them healthy food which was being cooked in our kitchens for our dog squad. Every day the menu changes and we ensure that they get at least one nutritious meal a day. They don’t get enough nutrition from biscuits,” said Patil.

As many as 400 dogs are being fed nutritious food every day. The menu comprises rice and chicken once in a day or rice and egg with carrots and other vegetables. Sometimes, they even get branded food meant for canines.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, CAR (South), M Yogesh said they have set up a kitchen for the strays in the CAR campus in Adugodi. “We are feeding the dogs with good quality food. We have received many donations from animal lovers and with that, we are cooking at least 25 kg of chicken to feed the strays. We are preparing the food in our campus and sending it out with volunteers in our vehicles,” he said.

Patil said they started off feeding about 100 strays at a graveyard in Indiranagar. “Some dogs had littered and there were many puppies who were starving. We started feeding them milk and gave nutritious food to the mothers. We then started expanding to other areas. We now have 10 volunteers and 10 members of our team feeding strays in other areas as well,” he said.

He further added that due to the lockdown, strays were not getting leftovers and scraps of food from restaurants. Patil requested residents of the city to feed the strays in their area and keep them hydrated too.

Patil added that even though there is relaxation on lockdown and most of the restaurants have opened, they are still feeding the royal meal to more than 400 dogs in the city. “We are feeding those dogs who are not being fed regularly and are not healthy,” he said.