Sixteen-year-old Shriya Rao’s "band was performing various retro numbers…She asked (actor Boman) Irani to sing and he did… Everybody was quite delighted… It was totally impromptu,” stated the Welfare of Stray Dogs (WSD) chief executive officer Abodh Aras. Irani was the chief guest at a musical fund raiser for the 27-year-old charity when he belted out Somewhere over the rainbow (from the movie The Wizard of Oz). The occurrence merited a write-up in the daily, mid-day (August 17) that noted Irani, a canine lover, has a "musical side that deserves a woof.” Aras shared with Parsiana a picture of Irani at the event, held at Hammer and Song, a party venue in Colaba, Bombay.
Abodh Aras (l) with Boman Irani
WSD has moved recently to a new facility where strays are treated free for illnesses. Also functioning as a sterilization center, Aras said that any point in time they have about 150 dogs and about 30 cats receiving treatment. Set up in 1985, WSD is recognized by the Animal Welfare Board of India. They carry out mass sterilization of street dogs "following the recommendations of the World Health Organization on rabies eradication and dog population control,” states their website wsdindia.org, adding, the organization "has impacted the lives of 1,50,000 street dogs through sterilization, vaccination, healthcare and adoption.”
The WSD board of trustees comprises Ashvin Mehta, Sunil Gandhi and Daisy Sidhwa who is also manager-projects. Journalist Lyla Bavadam is also a project manager. They are assisted by others including 150 volunteers. All the services are rendered free of cost.
Another media personality associated with WSD is video jockey and humorist Cyrus Broacha. In the December 2004 WSD newsletter, Broacha wrote in the humor column titled "Raasta Kutta” (the street dog) about a pet lover who recently got married.
"Q. I’ve had a Pomeranian for the last seven years. Now that I’m getting married, my ma-in-law won’t allow my dog ‘China’ to live with us. What to do?
"A. Annul the marriage. Change the mother-in-law. A pact with a dog once in place is unconditional and lifelong, and cannot, I repeat, cannot be broken.”
Offering background on street dogs, the website explains, "Most free-roaming dogs belong to an ancient canine race known as the Pariah Dog, which has existed all over Asia and Africa ever since human beings started living in settlements. They are, and have always been, scavengers — that is, they live on garbage created by humans. In India, the breed has existed for perhaps 14,000 years or more. In addition to scavenging, they are widely kept as pets by rural and urban slum households... The size of the street dog populations always corresponds to the size and character of the human population of the area.”