Support to save Chennai cats signature campaign

CHENNAI: International support poured in for Chennai’s cats on a recent online signature campaign titled, ‘Stand up to Chennai’s cat killers’. The campaign, initiated by cat owner Sayanti Mukherji on www.change.org a few weeks ago, has garnered a total of 1,857 signatures till date and was presented to Police Commissioner JK Tripathy recently. This was in an effort to ban the snaring and killing of cats within city limits. The irony was that 1,400 signatures were received from animal lovers overseas and only 400 from India. Sayanti elaborates, “There were posts from people spread as far as the United States, France, Ireland, Austria, UK, Poland, Germany and Slovakia.”Posted Jane Easton from the UK on the petition page, “India is the heart of the vegetarian world and reveres cows. It shames this amazing country with its ancient civilization to allow such barbaric behaviour. Good people should not stand by and allow a few bad people to commit such deeds.”Though this might only be the first step to make a change, Sayanti states, “Our discussion with Mr Tripathy was taken very positively.” says Sayanti. A group of seven, including a People for Animals (PFA) representative, attended the meeting with the Commissioner to raise concerns on the cruel culling of cats in the city. The problem began when Sayanti, a content writer by profession, found her pet cat Tamasha Tabby missing three months ago. Sayanti recalls, “I returned home from work one day to find Tabby missing.” She continues, “When I asked everybody around, a girl sitting at a tailor shop across the street told me that she had witnessed a man grab him (Tabby) off our apartment wall. This was one of his usual spots to sit on.”Following this incident, a distraught Sayanti sought out a number of pet owners and animal activists in an attempt to research the frequency of such cases in Chennai. She states, “I found it to be a rampant problem that dates back to over 20 years.” She continues, “But what was more upsetting was the fact that police officials would not take my complaint seriously when I requested them to file an FIR.”Hence, the idea for the campaign was formed, resulting in 1,857 signatures till date. However, they were informed that the tribal status of the community helped them carry out such acts for their livelihood. In response, a PFA member suggested the organisation’s existing jewellery making programmes as an alternative means of livelihood. Sources reveal that with the support of police officals, a meeting with Corporation Commissioner PWC Davidar will be arranged next month. She elaborates, “This is to initiate a joint effort in stopping these killings as well helping this tribal community find a viable alternative income.” Also, as part of their efforts, a PFA member said that they would file a PIL in this regard in an effort to have such cases taken up more seriously.