Agra (Uttar Pradesh): An Agra woman, who has been rescuing and rehabilitating stray dogs for nearly 40 years, has raised the issue of discrimination between the domestic and foreign breeds.
Vineeta Arora, who runs a non-government organisation that works for stray dogs, says street dogs are neglected and the foreign breeds are exploited. "I have written about the plight of the street dogs in my book Odyssey of street dogs. While researching for the book, I found out that this discrimination started during the British era."
She alleges that the majority of dog rescuers usually treat the animal after rescuing them and then leave them. "But I keep them at my shelter," Arora said, adding sometimes she even gets threats when she goes out to rescue dogs.
About the origin of her NGO, Arora states she started working for the stray animals more fervently after losing her pet animal in a road accident.
"After losing one of my most loved dogs in a road accident, I started the NGO and decided to focus my life on the service of the stray dogs. I, along with my husband, pooled all our resources to start this venture," she says.
On how it is different from others, Arora says other NGOs refuse to take the foreign breeds. "But I am against that notion. Once a dog is on the street, it doesn't make a difference whether it is a street dog or a foreign breed. Indian dogs can survive on the streets and but the foreign ones cannot."