A dog is the best friend: homeless animals looking for owners at SOKO Festival
The first SOKO festival was held in Tashkent, organized by a group of volunteers, who are not indifferent to the lives of homeless animals. The festival's main aim is to draw attention to the abandoned four-legged animals and to the shelters where they are rescued and kept.
TASHKENT, May 31 2021 - Sputnik. The first festival devoted to homeless animals was held in the capital of Uzbekistan. How shelters for stray animals can change the lives of cats and dogs, and rescue them from animal catching and control services, was addressed by Sputnik.
The initiative and the inspiration for the project was Angelina Sharipova, a volunteer with eight years of experience. In 2013 she came to "Hayot" shelter for the first time as a photographer. But as the activist admits, without a team of like-minded friends nothing would have worked out.
"The idea to create the project "SOKO" (from the russian words cat and dog) came when I learned about the Russian festival Yuna-Fest. It is a series of exhibitions for cats and dogs from shelters, where everyone can not only socialize with animals, but also find a four-legged friend and take him home. I checked their pages on social network and watched the photo and video reports. Everything there is very authentic. I realized that I wanted to be there and then organize something similar in our country," recalls the activist.
On the first day of the festival, the organizational team brought only dogs - ten of them. On the second day, they brought 11 cats. All animals are from the "Four Paws" shelter, which is closest to Tashkent, in the Yangiyul district.
Preparations for the project began in the fall of 2020. In addition to the large animal shelters (which house sometimes over a hundred dogs) - there are about ten of them - there are also very small places for homeless pets. And they, too, need attention and support. As for the stray animals who have suffered from cruelty, they often need not only the human presence but also medical help. While humans, in general, are able to help themselves, animals need us.
Without an eye and a paw
Gigi lost one eye because children hit her with a rock... Cheburashka is missing part of his back paw, and Ronald lost his front left paw. Each of these dogs is likely to die on the street. That's why they are in such need of an owner, human attention, and care.
"Gigi was living between houses on the street. But one of the children didn't like her and she was hit on the head with a rock. Since then her eye stopped seeing and was covered with a film. They started abusing her until one woman took the dog away. Eventually, the dog was brought to us. That was in February 2019, she was three months old at the time. One day she just fell down and stopped moving, we thought: that's it, we're going to lose her. But we treated her, and as a result, she is alive and hopefully healthy," says the head of the "Four Paws" shelter.
And these two dogs are surprisingly active, and, as the volunteers say, "it seems that they are not missing limbs, but, on the contrary, have a few extra paws each." Incredibly, the animals are drawn to people. Children of all ages are especially tender with them. But from time to time Cheburashka and Ronald stop: it is not easy for three paws to cope with the weight of the body, the dogs need a break. Volunteers carefully wait for the pets to rest and continue to get acquainted with the festival visitors again.
As part of the event, thematic photo and art exhibitions were organized, as well as lectures by experts. Angelina Sharipova presented several of her works. The pictures of animals filled with longing, fear, loneliness, helplessness, and hopelessness, in particular, depict an animal catching and control service's machine, holes for dead dogs, and nets for catching them. A horrifying sight that should have no place in our compassionate society.
As it was written by Exupéry
A lot of interest was aroused by lectures from specialists. The topic "Neutering and castration of animals" was addressed by the representative of "Doctor Vet" veterinary clinic. He told about the importance of controlling the population of pets in the streets. This, above all, will help to avoid overcrowding of the city with all the resulting consequences.
In addition, on the subject of "A Country with No Stray Animals. The Way of the Volunteer", the founder and head of the "Hayot" shelter, Iroda Matkarimova, spoke. She said that there are about 200 million homeless dogs in the world and the country with no single stray animal is Holland. Residents there can go to a shelter and take a pet they like, but no dog lives on the streets.
"The Dutch authorities arrived at this result with the help of compulsory mass sterilization and castration. We look up to them in our work. Can this be done without government involvement? Perhaps yes, if the majority of the population takes an active part in it. When bloggers and journalists join us and talk about our work, about shelters for animals, about our difficulties and needs, then not only the number of volunteers increases, but of course there is also more financial support", - says Iroda.
She does not hide the fact that almost 200 million soums are spent each month to maintain the largest animal shelter in the country, which houses 2,500 stray animals. The scale of the shelter, according to Iroda, is explained by the fact that by keeping animals here in Kibray and Chirchik (Tashkent region) there are no animal catching and control services. Animals found on the streets are brought directly to the shelter. According to the founder, they are able to find a new home for one animal per day. On some days they find owners for 10 to 50 dogs. The shelter pays special attention to this area of their work. A large number of pets are taken into the service of the canine centers. The dogs have the main qualities for this - they are socialized and easy to train.
"I personally deal with this issue. We conclude contracts with the canine services of the Main Department of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and border guards. Many of our pets are excellent guards. They are healthy, well fed and vaccinated," says Iroda Matkarimova.
She also told about the shelter's unique experience of rescuing animals during the tragedy in Sardoba. Thanks to the help of the State Traffic Police and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Uzbekistan and obtaining a special permit, at the epicenter of the disaster a "Caravan of Kindness" consisting of twenty cars was organized. They carried clothes, food, and medicines for both affected people and animals. There are many kind and compassionate people in our community. As Iroda says, the night before she left for Sardoba, people brought what they could to help right to her house. And it was an invaluable help. In December 2020, she received a letter of gratitude for her community work from the City Hall.
"We were able to rescue 35 dogs, 5 cats, kittens, and poultry, not counting the animals we picked up on our way to Sardoba. One of the difficulties was that many of the dogs were chained or tied up with ropes. The emergency workers did everything they could to save them. Today, 30 animals have been rehomed. The former owners couldn't take them back, although there was nowhere to take them - their houses were destroyed. But with their permission, we found new homes for the animals. However, there were some who didn't give up their dogs but simply asked us to provide them with food. Of course, we helped with that as well," the volunteer says.
Everyone could also bring food, toys, bowls, and other gifts for the shelter animals.
"I heard about the festival from a friend of mine. There should be more events like this. They should be written about and talked about. The atmosphere here is incredible. My friend and I brought two kinds of food and bowls for the cats and dogs. In the nearest future, we plan to take a specially organized bus to the Hayot shelter. It runs to and from the shelter every weekend," said a SOKO visitor.
Lessons of Kindness and new shelter
As part of the festival, representatives of shelters, in particular, "Hayot," as well as the Society for the Protection of Animals "Mehr va Oqibat" and students of the Law Institute conduct Lessons of Kindness. And if before only activists and animal advocates came up with such an initiative, today the heads of educational institutions themselves are asking to inform the students about how they should treat animals.
However, as the high-profile story of two teenagers hanging a defenseless dog from a tree demonstrates, such lessons should be part of the compulsory school curriculum. It is necessary to cultivate love for animals from an early age. It is the four-legged friend that will help children grow up to be kind, compassionate, and caring people.
The organizers have also thought about the smallest visitors - a special creative area for children was equipped, where they could draw and do crafts from gypsum.
According to Angelina, the SOKO festival has not been legally certified in any way so far, but its organizers hope that this will happen in the very near future. The purpose of such meetings is to draw attention to the problem of homeless animals and shelters for their care, to popularize the volunteer movement, as well as to cause a desire to help those whom people have domesticated, but did not cope with the responsibility.
The experience of Holland, as told by Iroda Matkarimova, proves that the problem of cruel animal catching and control can be solved. And today in Uzbekistan, certain steps are gradually being taken in this direction. In particular, the construction of the Mehr shelter for homeless dogs, initiated by AKFA Group, is now actively underway.
" We have finished the concrete work on the enclosures, and the farms are being assembled. In the administrative block, metalwork continues to be assembled, a power substation has been assembled and put into operation, and outdoor lighting is being installed," the company said.
The shelter will be located on the territory of Pskent district of Tashkent region and will occupy an area of 1 hectare. Up to one thousand dogs will be able to stay here simultaneously. The complex will have comfortable walking areas and a separate block for puppies and nursing dogs. In addition, there will be premises for staff, administrative and medical blocks where animals can receive obligatory vaccinations and other help.
Date of publication: 31.05.2021
Source: https://uz.sputniknews.ru/20210531/chelovek-sobake-drug-bezdomnye-jivotnye-ischut-xozyaev-na-festivale-soko-18991480.html