Meeting Deputy Commissioner Dilip Gor

CNCD - that's the acronym of the name of the department responsible for stray animals in the city of Ahmedabad.. Can you imagine the full form of CNCD? Here let me help you, it is "Cattle NUISANCE Control Department", uh-huh, that's right. No pretences; no welfare, nor implementation of guidelines of the State for Animals. Simply control the Nuisance!

I asked for an appointment with Deputy Commissioner of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Shri Dilip Gor, who is in-charge of CNCD as well as Health and SWM. The very next day I was summoned at his office near Jamalpur. Mr. Gor started on a plaintive note, and then, went on to a fiery symphony, which I had not predicted. I pictured myself caught in a hapless crossfire of NGO V.S. AMC blame-match. And I did come out a lot wiser.

Mr. Gor comes across as a pragmatic and knowledgeable Officer, however he undoubtedly presented to me the picture of a hapless Government Official, challenged by 'paper-beasts' (invisible monsters that tie officers and their reputation to piles of paper in Government Offices). He gave some noteworthy insights to the situation of the delay of ABC Program for stray dogs in Ahmedabad. The poignant revelations being that the lack of norms for monetary compensation, land requirement and allotment in Development Plans are the prime hindrances in smoothly undertaking the program. He makes his resentment amply clear, of the Animal Welfare Organizations (AWOs) who are showered with funds, only for treating injured strays or those in need of rescue.

According to Mr. Gor, there are 2 basic points of contention that have delayed the take-off of the program:

1. AMC was in the past successfully doing CNVR (Catch + Neuter + Vaccinate + Release) of stray dogs. However, a new directive from AWBI (Animal Welfare Board of India) required them to offer at least 3-5 days of post-operative care, which escalated costs and introduced problems of space.

2. Though AWBI is offering 50% reimbursement of cost of ABC Program, there are massive discrepancies with respect to the exact amount required per dog. If this amount is prescribed by law, it would make matters much easier, but it would still not cover other costs such as that for vehicle, 'catching', releasing, etc.; these expenses are borne by AMC.

Lastly and most importantly, Mr. Gor asserted that IEC (Information, Education, Communication) activity is of paramount importance for the present hour. He was however dodgy when I asked him how the AMC administrates the Stray Dog Control Program across the city, perhaps I was hanging around too long, and simply answered by saying that one control room in Behrampura 'attends to complaints' from all over the city and just passes them on to concerned persons. It seemed funny to him that I wanted to visit their control room and see their working. What's there? Oh what was I thinking!

This is N U I S A N C E C O N T R O L . . . P E R I O D

First (loose) attempt at Information Design

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Here I have made the first of several attempts to be made, to make the process of the working of the project. I would like your comments on this. If you already know the working of the process, do tell me whether this image is rightly conveying the same. Or you can see the image and then refer to the 'info' page on prani's fb page to understand the working.

Hurrah . . . Let the Dog Mapping Begin!

Ankit Arte - Prani's Developer has made the first attempt of the dog map:

http://bcheabet.engineering.uga.edu/prani/new/index.php

It looks like this

I could not resist sharing this, the dog map has officially started!

Try it! you can upload info of a dog, and a mail is directly sent to my inbox with all the info :) Thanks Ankit Arte for the brilliant work!

Meeting Mahendra Shrimali

On Saturday the 17th of September, I made a reluctant phone call to a person I had hoped to reach a really long time ago. Mr. Mahendra Shrimali, a renowned Animal Welfare Activist in Ahmedabad, co-ordinator of People For Animals - Ahmedabad Chapter, dedicates his untiring efforts round the clock to attend to stray dogs in need of care around the city. Setting aside his precious time, Mr. Shrimali immediately welcomed me to interact on the very same afternoon.

As I entered his house I was overwhelmed by a strong scent like that of an animal shelter, which quickly told me that a number of fortunate dogs had found refuge on the upper storey of his humble duplex. He introduced me to a dog paralyzed in her hind legs. Her face reminded me of Champa, and we became instant buddies. Mr. Shrimali specializes in the care of dogs suffering from paralysis. He at once sets the record straight by asserting that while the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001 gave power only to bodies conducting ABC program for stray dogs, to 'lift' stray dogs from their original location for the purpose of sterilization; as the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation does not conduct any such program, their act of 'lifting' stray dogs in Dog Vans is illegal. Moreover, the 'lifted' dogs are taken to an outskirts area of the city and left - a punishable offense under Section 503 of the Indian Penal Code that prohibits displacing a stray dog from its original territory.

He shared critical information on the abominable corruption taking place among NGO as well as Municipal Corporation circles with regard to stray dog control programs that never seem to take effect. One of the valid points raised was thus, that, would the dedicated Stray Dog NGOs take up mass sterilization on war-footing, and resolve the issue once and for all, there would be thin opportunity in future for funds and under-table transactions to fill the thirsty pockets of the 'concerned' officials. This was an astounding revelation, and so was the fact that the Gujarat Government in its Dog Census of Ahmedabad District has come up with an abysmal figure of 65000 dogs, when more than 2 lakh are numbered in Ahmedabad city itself.

Mr. Shrimali reaffirmed the relevance of my project to the need of the hour. He went on to share several stories of how legal intervention was instrumental in disposing justice to stray dogs. In one exemplary incident in Paldi area of Ahmedabad, Police Constables were deployed by the regional PI to offer protection to a set of dogs! In general citizens are unaware of laws protecting animals, and simply spreading awareness about these can effect considerable mitigation of cruelty and injustice against animals. This was a crucial addition to the project's awareness objectives. On being asked how the awareness should be created, and whom to address, he said that children should be a prime target audience as sensitization at a young age is most desirable.

Visualizing the proposed system

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My Academic Guide Mr. Rupesh Vyas advised me to visualize the anatomy of my proposed project. After several tries and retries, I finally drew up the above chart. I would like to hereby explain with the above chart, the system which establishes the background for my design intervention.

The key-stakeholders identified here are Corporates & Institutions, Municipal Dog Control Department, Animal Welfare NGOs, and Citizens. NGOs serve as the central facilitating bodies for their respective divisions. Funds are derived from Corporates, Institutions and citizens' donations. Logistical Support would be taken from Municipal Corporation, Citizen Volunteers and Institutional Volunteers.

The Online Platform will be the focus of this Project. This platform will have, as a base, the Dog-Map of the city. The Dog Map would be moderated by a Chief Co-ordinator in consultation with the respective NGO of each division. Data would be contributed by Citizens and Citizen-Volunteers through telecom as well as online media, and then cross-referenced and screened by NGO Volunteers and Municipal Dog Control Personnel.

The data would be organised into a data-base of stray dogs for the city. This data would be used to effect and monitor vaccination and sterilization of stray dogs. The records would be analysed from time to time by the respective NGO for each division to publish studies and research to be used for evaluation and improvement of the program.

The red dots mark the points where graphic design intervention is needed for communication:
1. Visual Identity for the Program
2. Appeal for Funds / Sponsorship'
3. Appeal for Volunteer-ship
4. Sensitizing citizens to the issue (children, youth)
5. Ground media to spread awareness (local)
6. Program Training Toolkit for NGO and Municipal Dog Control Department
7. An Online 'Dog Map' and Monitoring Device

Project Proposal

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Chief Problems and their origin

Haphazard urban planning and human overpopulation have led to a correspondingly huge population of stray dogs in most Indian cities

A. Mating – Dog fights occur during mating season, especially when dogs cross territories, humans often get accidently bitten in the course of these dog fights. The noise levels are also high.
– Female stray dogs are usually aggressive when they have puppies to protect.

B. Guarding Territory – As Dogs have strict loyalty to territory, fights ensue when dogs from other territories trespass on theirs. This leads to fights ensuing and resultant barking and howling.

C. Human Waste Disposal Habits – Throwing organic kitchen and dinner waste on streets is an inevitable cultural tendency in India. Stray Dogs survive on garbage; not only do they drag waste to every corner of the street in order to enjoy an uninterrupted meal, but also tend to be n large numbers wherever garbage on streets is  habitually thrown.

D. Rabies – a fatal disease which can be transmitted to humans. Although all warm-blooded animals can get and transmit rabies, dogs are the most common carrier. Every year more than 20,000 people die in India due to Rabies. This accounts for nearly 36% of the total deaths due to Rabies world-wide. Most industrialised nations have effectively controlled Rabies. Even though the best methods for the prevention of Rabies are available in India, the penetration of awareness regarding the use of these is still lacking.