HYDERABAD: A group of students, from different city schools, raised over Rs 3.6 lakh to feed stray dogs. With fewer people feeding
strays
due to Covid-19, these youngsters have raised enough for 22,000 meals.
Prateeti Reddy Mallepally, a class 10 student of Oakridge International School, is among those raising funds. “The strays have no means of feeding themselves since offices, restaurants, roadside eateries --where they could easily access food -- are now closed due to the pandemic. They are starving and their food sources are diminishing,” Prateeti said.
Prateeti said what started with a few of them discussing the matter, soon spread among like-minded acquaintances. Soon a group of about 15 students began an initiative called ‘Every Paw Matters’ which launched the fundraiser. She alone has raised Rs 40,000 so far.
Aanya Jain, who raised Rs 32,000, said having a pet dog herself made her want to ensure that strays get the same care. “We wanted to raise Rs 90,000, but raised much more than we expected,” said the class 11 student from Chirec International School.
The fundraiser was launched on the platform Fuel a Dream. Ranganath Thota, Founder at Fueladream.com says “These 15 students came together to do a wonderful crowdfunding campaign to impact stray dogs and have raised enough to fund 22,000 meal servings for stray dogs in Hyderabad. That is a very high impact and meaningful initiative. The funds have already started being used to feed strays by the Blue Cross of Hyderabad.”