Dogs are my favorite animals, be it any breed. I can spend all my time with them without getting tired. I have one at my place as well. Stray dogs are usually the victims of violence. People hit them with sticks, and pelt stones at them- as if they don’t feel anything. One in every five stray dogs is injured because of humans. Be it intended violence against them or rash driving. These speechless souls don’t deserve such treatment. The least that I thought I could do was feed them so that they get the nutrients they need to survive and help any injured dog I see on the roads by calling the Non Profit Organisations that work for the welfare of these domestic animals. In midst of this experience, even others joined me for this cause.

LO3: I made an action plan initially so that I could plan out when and where do I have to go to feed these dogs. It helped me keep track of time and it also worked like reminders so that I don’t forget and I keep up with the planned schedule.

LO4: I was committed to this task naturally, as I mentioned above, I am an animal lover and dogs are my favourite living organism. I would do all I can for them. And doing something for humanity doesn’t require perseverence because it makes you feel good. It gives you happiness from within. Now during this experience, there were times when I was sick yet I went to help out these poor souls, that took a little commitment otherwise it was trouble-free.

LO5: Since I wasn’t the only one to go and feed the dogs, collaboration was necessary. I had to make sure to give such time to others so that most people could attend at the same time. Bringing an adequate amount of food as per the number of dogs present in the designated area was also important. So we all collaborated using social media and executed our plans.

LO6: Animal cruelty and Hunger are two of the major set of problems that innocent animals face. The severity of these problems is such that these animals end up dying in the most painful ways. So working towards a safer and better environment for them was very important, we have disrupted their lives so it makes us responsible to help them as well.

LO7: The work that we’ve been doing is definitely good for the stray dogs but there’s always a risk involved while you are in a close proximity with other living organisms. Safety is very important. The volunteers helped these animals despite of the risk involved in this service. There could have been consequences of making this decision, volunteers could’ve been bit by one of these animals and that could have lead to serious consequences. One thing we did was make sure that we were always in a group and in a close proximity so that even if there is a rough encounter with the dogs, together we could protect each other and generally dogs don’t attack humans when they are in groups.

To sum up, feeding the dogs and helping them out was a generous action and it felt good to do so. It was simply a joyful experience.

Learner profiles: Risk-takers, Caring and Communicators.