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Do’s and Don'ts of helping animals

H.S. Dhiman

There are many small steps you can take to help the helpless creatures. Surprisingly, more than doing good to the animals, they will do good to your conscience.

When you come across a starving, ill or injured animal, try to help it by offering it food and water, or giving it first aid, as the case may be. If you can’t, remember that help is just a telephone call away. Intimate an animal welfare organization in your town.

The animal welfare organizations are mostly short of funds and do not generally have a sufficient number of ambulances. If the organisation you call up, does not have a vehicle readily available, offer your car to transport the animal. Spread a few old newspapers on the seat covers so that they don’t get soiled. The exercise will cause a little inconvenience to you, but it will be more than compensated by the tremendous satisfaction you will get out of it.

Dogs and cats are in the habit of sleeping under vehicles and get badly hurt or even killed in the process. Before you drive your vehicle, look under it to ensure that there is no animal there. Alternately, every time you start your vehicle, wait for a minute or two before putting it in the gear. This will give time to the animal to run away. Keeping the engine idle for a few minutes also results in its proper lubrication and extends the life of your vehicle.

Photo: © weforanimals.com

Never leave behind your pet in the car with the window panes rolled up. It can suffocate your pet within minutes.

Keep your pet off the leash as far as possible. Always ensure that the leash is comfortably loose around the neck of your pet. Take care that the leash is not made of hard material and does not hurt your pet.

Take out your pets for walks regularly. A medium sized dog would need a daily walk of at least one to two miles (1.6 to 3.2 kms). Larger breeds will need longer walks.

Do not tie strings to the necks of stray animals and do not allow children to do it. It can harm the animals in many ways.

If you see a stray dog with a rope around to its neck, try to win its confidence and remove or cut the rope. If you can’t, call an animal welfare organization.

Never throw stones on a stray animal. If you must do it to frighten away the animal, try to throw the stone off the mark.

Adopt a pet only if you can keep it lovingly. Come what may, never abandon you pet. Unlike stay animals, a pet does not know how to defend itself, or where to find food and water. If you leave him on the road (or worse, in a jungle), it will die a slow, agonizing death. If it becomes impossible for you keep your pet, give it away to an animal welfare organization, or place a free ad in an animal web-site to offer it to an animal lover.

A very large number of animals are injured due to carelessly thrown sharp objects. Wrap all pieces of broken glass and nails in a cloth, paper or plastic sheet and dispose them off properly away from the places where animals move about.

Do not dig holes on the road or pavement. An animal’s foot may get stuck up in it and fractured. If you have to dig holes to erect a tent for a marriage function or something else, fill up the holes completely immediately after the function is over.

When you throw away something that can be eaten by the animals, do not put it in a plastic bag. Plastic bags can be dangerous for animals. If an animal swallows the plastic bag along with eatables, it may fall seriously ill and even die.

Many dogs end up with deep, festering cuts on their throat, because some children (or even grown-ups) tied a plastic rope round their neck and forgot to remove it. If you have a plastic rope or a tape to throw away, cut it to small pieces, so that nobody can wrap it around a dog’s neck.

A large number of birds die of thirst. The position is more or less the same also in respect of stray animals. Put up bird baths in your lawn, the roof of your house, or even your balcony. Also keep water outside your house for the stray animals. For keeping water, earthen wares are preferable to metal or plastic wares, because they do not rust, they do not tip, they do not get too hot or too cold with the weather, and usually no body steals them.

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