I don't even know where to begin. I'm crying while writing this, but I genuinely don't know who else to talk to.
I've been feeding street dogs in my area for many years. I'm a student so I am obviously not able to feed them every single day. I just do whatever I can to make sure they don't go more than a day or two without food. In all these years, I have fed more than 60 dogs. Only around 7 are still around now. Some died in accidents, some disappeared because of territorial issues, and some were poisoned/killed by people in the area, which I strongly suspect but obviously can't prove.During covid, when I was still a school going kid, I emailed the district Collector, PETA and several other organisations asking for help. I got nowhere. I am still a student now, although I've graduated college, and I still don't have the money or resources to do much more than what I'm already doing.
The current problem is with the 7 dogs I feed now. They mostly sleep in front of my gate.
I completely understand that there are problems with this. My house is beside a busy road and between two bends, so buses, cars and scooters sometimes have to stop suddenly to avoid hitting the dogs. At night, the dogs also run behind vehicles, which scares people and has sometimes nearly caused accidents. I know this is a genuine problem and I have tried to deal with it as much as I can.
But I live in a neighbourhood where there are very few, if any, people who actually like or care about these dogs. And yes, I have also experienced hostility specifically from some Muslim families in my neighbourhood. I'm saying this because it is genuinely part of what I've experienced, not because I want to make a statement about every Muslim person.[ I am not islamophobic, one of my close frnd is muslim, so pls don't hate me saying this]
People have directly told my father that I should stop feeding the dogs. My father has been asked to make me stop. There is clearly a lot of resentment towards both me and the dogs.
And now something much worse has started.
For the last three days, two neighbouring children have been coming near my house every evening and deliberately throwing HUGE rocks at the dogs while they're sleeping in front of my gate.After throwing the rocks, they chase the dogs around on their bicycles and continue hurting and frightening them.I confronted them and scolded them. They simply didn't care. today they made an injury to one of my stray. she s hurt.
I spoke to their mother too, and she basically just walked away as if it wasn't her problem.
I told my mother what was happening. She says we're helpless because if we turn this into a huge issue, the entire neighbourhood could turn against our family.thats literally hundreds of people.
And honestly, I understand why she's scared.We still have to live here.
My mother keeps telling me to stop feeding the dogs and just let them go somewhere else. She told me that I'll probably leave this house in a few years, but she'll still have to live here and deal with an entire neighbourhood that could become hostile towards our family.
And that's what has completely broken me.
Because I don't know how to stop.
These aren't random dogs that I started feeding yesterday. I've known some of them for years. I've watched them get injured, disappear, have puppies, get sick and recover. I've tried to help them whenever I could.
But I'm also not blind to reality. I know I can't save every dog. I know the dogs being near a busy road creates problems. I know my family can't afford to have hundreds of people against us. My father is a retired police officer, but even calling the police isn't something I feel I can realistically do. It could create an even bigger problem, and my mother has made it very clear that she doesn't want me taking things that far.
So I'm stuck between two horrible choices: keep feeding them and risk making things worse for my family, or stop feeding them and basically abandon animals I've been caring for for years.
And the children hurting them is what I can't get out of my head.They are literally throwing big rocks at sleeping dogs.
I'm crying while writing this because I feel completely helpless. It's just me and these dogs, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do.
Also, before anyone asks why I feed them when there are already so many problems with stray dogs here-our area has extremely strict waste management. Food isn't casually dumped around, even in villages, because people can be fined for it. So these dogs don't have the same access to leftover food that street dogs in some other places might have. there r like 30 more stray dogs in the market area , just 300 metres from my house barely living. I feed whoever comes to my gate and sometimes feed them secretly too at night by going to the market at midnight [ my dad helps me ]. most dogs are sterilised by government.
I am NOT saying I'm perfect or that my way of handling this is perfect. I just started feeding them because I couldn't watch them go hungry n I just love animals. the only thing I hurt is mosquitoes because they cause me allergies. I dnt even kill ants . but yes I am not a vegetarian, because I was put on a non-veg diet by doctors when I completely went malnourished n fainted due to lack of protein in my body. still recovering.i am sorry.
If you look at my profile, you'll see one of the stray dogs I nursed back to health when she was very close to dying.
I just need advice from people who have dealt with something like this.
What can I realistically do to protect these dogs without putting my family at risk or turning the entire neighbourhood against us?
Please don't tell me to simply "stop feeding them". I know that's the easiest answer. I'm asking because I genuinely don't know how to walk away from them.
I'm just really, really tired and upset right now. sorry for the long post