By N B Hombal

Bengaluru, Sep 28 (IANS): If a dog is man's best friend, so are many humans to the canine, especially the strays living rough on the streets.

A noted fitness coach and bodybuilder Gourang Genji, inspired by his wife Swati Kadam's passion to feed stray animals, has begun weekly feeding of protein-based diet to stray dogs in and around Belagavi in Karnataka.

Belagavi is a district headquarters city sharing a border with Maharashtra, 507 km from Bengaluru.

Gourang is a winner of 46 state-level gold medals, but is now pursuing a career in shooting. He also posts video clips on healthy diets on his YouTube channel, Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Helped by like-minded friends, the couple -- married for four months now -- mobilised resources and began feeding around 150 strays 15 kg rice-chicken meal on Sundays three weeks ago. A friend's hotel came in handy for preparing the fresh meals on Saturday nights, which is then fed to strays early on Sunday mornings.

The couple said the noble cause could be taken up by anyone anywhere as it just took two hours every week to feed at least one meal to these voiceless animals out on the streets.

Speaking to IANS from Belagavi on phone, Gourang said: "About a month ago, I was heading home from my gym when I saw some underfed stray dogs. I strongly felt that these animals were seeking help, even though they could not convey it. As a fitness coach, I recognised their need for a nutritious diet. I discussed the issue with my wife and she came on board."

Close friends Faizan, Raman Chougale and Rohit Killekar also joined in the next day to sponsor the meals for the animals.

Swati said she is an avid animal lover. She said she had been feeding animals for the last four years in her native town Hubballi even though she was not aware of their need for nutritious meals.

"I have always lived by the dictum that 'he who feeds hungry animals, feeds his own soul'. I also used to feed animals but it never occurred to me that they too require nutritious food. Gourang, a trained nutritionist, came up with this idea of feeding stray dogs protein-based meals," she said.

"Due to lack of nutritious meals, these strays are weak and thus susceptible to a number of ailments, especially skin-related diseases. Such animals can also spread contagious diseases. Gourang has prepared charts on nutritious meals and came up with the idea of feeding chicken- or raw eggs-based meals to these strays, to start with," she added.

The couple is also administering de-worming tablets to their furry friends to keep them healthy.