JURI, Moulvibazar — Raju Ahmad, 40, is busy with various tasks all day. But when evening falls, he buys bread or rolls from a shop and walks along the roadside. There, he calls out to the street dogs and feeds them. He has been doing this regularly for nearly two years.
Raju Ahmad’s home is in Bhogtera village in Jafarnagar Union of Juri upazila in Moulvibazar. He is at once a media worker, a poet and a singer. He also runs a brick and sand business in the Bara Masjid Sarak area of Kaminiganj Bazar in the upazila headquarters.
On a recent evening, Raju was seen standing on the roadside in front of his business with a packet of bread in his hand. Four or five dogs surrounded him. He tore off pieces of bread and fed the animals, which ate with satisfaction.
“I have been doing this almost every day for two years,” Raju said. “There is not much work after sundown. I buy this food from a nearby shop or restaurant and step out for a while.”
Several packs of dogs gather around Bara Masjid Sarak in Kaminiganj Bazar and near the Bhabaniganj Bazar bus station after dusk. Raju takes turns going to the two spots to feed them.
Asked why he loves dogs, Raju said: “Different people find joy in different things. Many people don’t love street dogs. When they see them, they shoo them away or threaten them. It hurts to see that. I find real joy in feeding the dogs. It takes a small amount of money. Not much expense, no waste of time.”
The dogs have been suffering during the recent cold wave, Raju said. They huddle together at certain spots at night. He recently spread some straw on the roadside in the Bara Masjid Sarak area and laid a sack on top so the dogs could sit there at night to fend off the cold. But when he went to the same spot the next morning, the sack and straw were gone. Someone had burned them under the cover of night. Only ashes remained. The sight pained him, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report