Annual Report 2020-2021!
2020 was a difficult year for everyone, including us at VSPCA. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw many losses across the country, including one of our own- Mr. Narayana Rao. Despite the challenges we faced, VSPCA did its best to continue with ongoing projects such as the Dog Protection Programme, the Cat Protection Programme, the Mobile Ambulance, the Protection of Migratory Birds, and more.
One such ongoing initiative at VSPCA is the Sea Turtle Protection Programme. We marked 25 years of this programme in 2020-2021. Additionally, we are extremely happy and proud to announce that the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department of Visakhapatnam now recognizes Sea Turtle Nestings as important and significant. They have also adopted the VSPCA approach and methods of sea turtle conservation and protection! VSPCA takes this initiative very seriously by engaging and interacting with the local residents and fishermen. We take the time and effort to not only teach them about our practices but also learn from them about their ways of life. Now, VSPCA is playing a monitoring role, observing the government’s work with the turtles, while it launches a new direction to protect the unprotected lands north of Visakhapatnam for Sea Turtle Conservation.
Continuing with the protection of aquatic animals and drawing inspiration from the success of our Sea Turtle Protection Program, VSPCA has embarked on a new initiative for the conservation and protection of sharks in the Bay of Bengal and along the coastline of Andhra Pradesh. This is a comprehensive programme under development and it involves fishermen, the port authorities, the fishing mandals, and institutes such as the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and the Andhra Pradesh State Fisheries Department. This is an important step towards the protection of aquatic animals as sharks are a vital part of our ecosystem.
The report also highlights VSPCA’s Parrot Protection Programme in which we have been successfully able to stop the exploitation of parrots by those VSPCA calls “fake astrologers”. These are groups of people who wander around the city, making their living by (ab)using parrots to tell customers what their future holds. These parrots are kept in cruel conditions and suffer extreme abuse. They are often kept in tiny 2×2 boxes with little food and water and we often find that their wings have been broken so that they cannot fly away and escape. However, we are pleased to announce that our consistent work over the last 20 years has largely reduced the abuse of these beautiful and magnificent birds. The residents are on alert and notify VSPCA staff members if they see any of these fake astrologers in the city. Their numbers have reduced greatly.
To read the full report, please visit our website at https://vspca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Edited-Final-AR-20-21-1.pdf