As the sun sets at Mandrem, a few keen dogs gather around shacks along the beach, looking for anything they can find from food to just humans to pet them.
One over-friendly black and white female dog found us at the shack and soon found some treats and other dogs to play with.
"She just arrived here two days ago. We have seen her now. She is new," says Sandeep, one of the staffers at the shack.?
He says that dogs are always welcome in this area through many fishermen don't like them.?
"Most of these dogs are abandoned by their owners, and many of them are female dogs because people don't want to bear the burden of raising pups," says Sandeep, adding that people just get the pups and as soon as they grow up, they abandon them.
Some are luckier than others.
At a short distance from Mandrem beach is 'Dog Temple'. It is not really a temple where people go to pray to dogs but a shelter for all the abandoned dogs who have finally found a loving home.
This heaven for stray dogs is situated in Girkarwado, a strip of land between the mighty ocean and a river on the Mandrem-Arambol border.?
Ingo, who hails from Germany, started the Dog Temple nearly five years ago, and since then, his house has become a permanent home for about 70 dogs. Ingo has been rescuing dogs for years -- some are blind, some have been beaten up by locals, and some simply abandoned after their owners decided to give up on them.
He feeds them, takes them to the beach, and runs.
"One of our dogs will soon go to Germany. A woman from Germany had to leave her behind as soon as the COVID pandemic began but now we are preparing to send her to Germany - which will be her forever home," Ingo tells Indiatimes.
All of the dogs that Ingo has rescued live together peacefully and playfully. Their mealtimes are fixed. "We usually feed them between 9 to 9.30 am and it's a task to feed so many dogs. Any kind of help is welcome," says Ingo.
The dogs are not chained here. They are fed, vaccinated, de-ticked, and looked after, being showered with love. They have access to the beach areas and on any given day, one can see them relax in the temple's shade besides playing among themselves on the beach.
He told that before the pandemic began many people came here and helped with daily dog food cooking and giving them a bath. "Ever since the lockdown was imposed, the number of people visiting Dog Temple also declined.?
"Now we don't have the kind of help we had two years ago, and resources are limited. Also, mostly foreigners visit and help us. Indians don't usually come here," he adds.
However, some people are always ready to help. The dogs keep getting showered with gifts ranging from sleeping and resting couches to dog-friendly ice-creams, new collars, and colourful toys. They are visited by children and adults who come to play with them and build a bond.
But all is not always well.
"The local fishermen hate these dogs and they hate me because I shelter them. They beat them up and given a chance, they would not hesitate to kill them either. So I try to keep them in the vicinity and don't let them venture farther, where they could be harmed", Ingo says.
Dog Temple is a safe haven for dogs who have been abused and abandoned by their owners. They receive no government funding and rely solely on donations.?
For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.