Goa, 24th April 2023: The Rooney Marlee Animal Welfare Trust, (RMAWT) – the social arm of the Bennet & Bernard Group – successfully concluded the second sterilisation camp for street animals in Goa on Saturday, 22nd April (The first one was held in 2021). RMAWT collaborated with Vet experts, Worldwide Veterinary Service Taskforce (WVS Taskforce) and the Goa Animal Welfare Trust (GAWT), for this second sterilisation campaign at a village level. The campaign was fully funded by the RMAWT.
The problem of strays has impacted life all over the country. In Goa, Trusts or NGOs like Rooney Marlee Animal Welfare Trust, seek to impact the life for the stray dogs and cats especially, to better the lives through these initiatives. The second camp held for the sterilization of these strays was conducted in the village of Quellosim-Cortalim Here is an example that can be followed by other cities.
The camp has taken place after a full-fledged outreach campaign, to reach out to the ground level, through local Communidade and Panchayat so people know of the program to being their home pets or community pets for sterilization. The model is implemented with the utmost humane approach. It is designed to make it safe for strays and pets. Home pets aside of stray/ community pets are included because many people find it difficult to take their pets to a clinic that may be far away.
Fabiola Mendes e Rodrigues, Director & Head HR, The Bennet & Bernard Company, commented on the efforts, “The campaign has been designed wholistically. To begin with, the locations within the village with the greatest number of stray pets have been identified. A professional team rounds up stray pets. These are sterilized by our professional partners in a humane and kind manner. The stray pets are kept under observation for wound healing and care, before releasing them back in their community. The first camp over two days, saw nearly 60 strays being sterilised. In the second camp we have done over 100 pet sterilisations. I’d like to thank the local Quelossim Communidade and Panchayat and for their assistance in our endeavour. Our veterinarian experts, WVS Taskforce and GAWT were strong support in this initiative.”
Our social effort in the last six months through Rooney Marlee Animal Welfare Trust has resulted in the safe sterilization of over 1000 stray dogs or cats.
