Stray Dogs (published article)

They are man's best friend; devoted, loving, faithful, steadfast and dependable are just some of the adjectives that go to describe these beautiful animals. Dignified, elegant, imposing, charismatic, they are bred to maintain the purity of their line and they can cost thousands. They lavish man with love, rewarding him with heartfelt licks and wagging tail, jumping to do his bidding however pointless it might seem; like running off to get the same stick over and over again. They never judge him, lie at his feet and in every way dispense adoration on him in abundance. They guard his house, accompany him without complaint on long lonely walks, guide him if he is blind, save him if he is lost in the snow, and they even herd his sheep and cattle. In return man is unstinting in the love and care he gives them. These dogs are well fed, well groomed with glossy coats, looked after when they are ill, vaccinated so that they are in no danger of contracting disease, kept comfortable in the home through all seasons; these are indeed the fortunate ones.

There are others though - mongrels and mixed breeds who no one wants. These are dogs that are destined to scavenge in garbage cans if they wish to survive and grow old, knowing only indifference and rejection. Dogs that have no idea what a kind word or a pat feels like, but who in their lives will many times experience the injuries caused by stones flung at them. Man's attentions to them do not make them bark excitedly with affection, but instead, often make them yelp in pain. These are the castaways among the noble canine species. Discriminated against, they are the untouchables, whose proximity is undesirable. They share the roads and co-exist with us, but are never afforded a single affectionate look, or even one of idle curiosity. For the most we avert our glances from them as they dig into garbage cans, or walk around in packs, or just lie on the pavements. They are feared and disliked and in return they reward man with ferocious barking, savage attacks and vicious bites. In short, for us, they can be described as a menace and danger to society.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION

My experience of them began quietly enough on the day I arrived in Pune. We arrived in the afternoon and I could not help but notice them sleeping on the pavements. It brought the old adage to mind – 'Let sleeping dogs lie'. For the next few months I saw them lying, sitting, running around wherever I went. They were also to be found in the garden of our complex, one dog, in particular, just stood on the wall, still as a statue and stared out at the distant hills. Though most looked diseased and mangy they did not look like they were about to attack, yet we made sure we kept our distance from them. It was a bit alarming, to say the least, to have so many stray dogs in the neighbourhood, which could be rabid and dangerous.

Later, I was exposed to their fierce nature, especially by our gate in the early mornings, as we waited for the school bus. A pack of them would fight, chasing each other, growling and in every way displaying a whole range of frightening behaviour. Then one night my driver was attacked, though he was lucky as the dog's teeth could not penetrate his thick jeans. A month or so later my maid's husband was bitten. Another servant reported the death of a neighbour by rabies a few months ago. Towards the end, her family had to tie her up as she tried to bite people. Furious rabies is one of the most terrifying diseases. It is thought to be the oldest communicable disease. The word rabies comes from the Sanskrit word 'rabhas', which means 'to do violence'.

I had watched the movie 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' only recently, in which the hero gets rabies from a dog bite and the disease and its progression was shown with frightening reality. I guess my interest in them began because I was beginning to wonder why such a huge danger to citizens was just allowed to exist without the municipal corporation doing something to about it. I started searching on the Internet and discovered that it was not difficult to find resources on the subject. I only had to type the words uppermost in my mind 'stray dog menace in Pune' and Google yielded me a number of results. Like most people, I was also trapped in my unilateral thinking that the dogs had to go if the roads were to be safe for humans.

DATA ON DOGS

I made many startling discoveries. First of all I found that at least in 2002, India had the largest stray dog population in the world, numbering around 19 million and therefore it was not a local problem but a national one and existed from Srinagar to Kerala, in all urban areas of our country. Mumbai, in itself, has about six lakh stray dogs. More than 30,000 human deaths and an unaccounted number of animal deaths occur every year in India by the bite of rabid animals, 95 per cent of which were stray dogs.

Before 1994, stray dogs were killed, yet, many used to roam the streets. The law against the culling of strays had come into effect in 1994 and since then their numbers had grown. Instead of killing, Animal Birth Control (ABC) was thought to be a more effective method of controlling their proliferation. ABC had been recommended in 1992 by the World Health Organisation after a nine-year study undertaken by them. WHO called it the only viable method along with Anti-Rabies (AR) for controlling stray dog populations and making them safe. According to the research done by them, ABC and AR programs have proved to be the only humane and sustainable method of reducing urban street dog numbers. So instead of passing a death sentence on the dogs, they were now sentenced to 'live' in fact sentenced to live 'a dog's life'. It is ironical but true that living in their circumstances is even less humane and thus a worse kind of punishment than culling. The discontinuation of culling of strays obviously resulted in an immediate rise in their population.

A MENACE?

People, all over India, including Pune, are tired of the stray dog menace, tired of their incessant barking at night, their vicious fights, their ferocious attacks on citizens, the danger they pose mainly to old people and children. There have been instances when infants and children have been killed by stray dogs. There are even reports of them hunting in packs and attacking wild animals, even large animals like sambhar and cheetal in the forests of the Sivaliks. Surprisingly, there have been other incidents where newborns abandoned by their parents have been saved by stray dogs. On April 23, 2008 three strays stood over an infant abandoned in a mound of mud by her mother in a village in Bihar and barked till people came and saved the baby. It is not the only incident of its kind. Kenya and Santiago in Chile are two of many more places where such incidents have occurred and the instincts of the dogs have proved to be more compassionate than the most loving of creatures, the mother.

Where on one hand there are demands to kill stray dogs to ensure a safer world for humans, on the other hand there are impassioned pleas from animal lovers and activists for compassion and mercy towards them. There are horror stories of how dogs have died painful deaths from strychnine poisoning, electrocution, or how they have been killed by clubbing them to death. If those killing them had added gassing to the other methods employed, their names would have been right up there with the likes of Hitler and Saddam Hussein. It gives a totally new dimension to the phrase' to die like a dog'. Fortunately for the dogs, there are many among us who are only too humane and are fervently working to save the strays. These are in the form of NGOs like the Blue Cross, Welfare of Stray Dogs, Animal Farm Pune and so on. In Pune, since 1995, the Blue Cross Society and the Pune Municipal Corporation have jointly been implementing the ABC & AR programs for reducing and controlling the stray dog population and incidence of rabies. The idea is sound and some work has been done but the alliance has not been as successful due to mis-co-ordination between the two and lack of funds from the centre.

PLACE FOR PARIAHS

My research into the stray dog issue went beyond the internet. I talked to people who in turn put me in touch with others who were involved in the rescue of stray dogs. I got in touch with people who have saved strays and their experiences of them. I heard heart-warming stories. There is one story in particular I heard from a friend, about two dogs saved by her mother who have lavished the whole family with love. A neighbour threatened to poison the dogs as they were strays but one night the dogs barked and frightened off some thieves who had come to the building. Since then they have become a welcome addition. There was also something very interesting I learnt about what we call strays. They are actually the 'Pariah' dogs. The Indian Pariah Dog is an ancient breed related to the Spitz family – they are older than any other breed. Its origin dates back 12,000 to 15,000 years. Pariah dogs are found all over the world. The Israeli Canaan, among others is now bred to meet high standards.

In India though, the animal has never gained any respect in urban circles. One of the reasons why this dog has been treated as a leper could be attributed to the importing of foreign breeds by the British. Like, many educated urban Indians have since those days rejected many things 'desi' so is the attitude extended to the Pariah dog too. The term Pariah which has been accepted in English, originates from Tamil Nadu, where it meant a low caste or untouchable. Therefore the name itself conveyed an undesirable, an outcast and people in cities would be ashamed or embarrassed to have one as a pet.

Sadly, the truth is that the Pariah dogs are used by villagers as guard dogs. They are also used as hunting dogs by the tribals, since they warn them of approaching dangers. Those who have rescued them from the roads find them highly desirable pets. They have an adaptable friendly nature, high intelligence, trainability and overall good health, as they have evolved for survival. Their high territorial instinct makes them naturally good watchdogs. They are extraordinarily loyal and devoted to their family.

KEEPING THE BALANCE

I have tried to present both sides of the case in a fair way, being neither overly rational nor overly impassioned because any solution needs a balance of rational thinking as well as compassion. My first reaction was that as usual the government has been short-sighted. When it made the killing of dogs illegal, its decision lacked the foresight to provide a humane solution to their increased numbers. It should have provided the land, money and the labour required to take care of these dogs in a civilised manner. On the other hand, would it truly be possible to provide the resources for such a vast dog population?

For the past few days I have been watching them continuously every time I am on the roads. I see them vying for trash with cattle, who sometimes are in a better position, being both bigger and having the added advantage of horns. Just within a one kilometre radius in Salunke Vihar I noticed at least four lame dogs. Can you even begin to imagine the pain a dog must suffer after being hit by a car and left on the road to bear the agony of his injuries while an uncaring world just continues on its way? Their plight reminds me of the late Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar's poem, when he was exiled by the British to Burma after the failure of the First War of Indian Independence in 1857 – "Naa kisi ki aankh ka noor huun, Naa kisi key dil ka qaraar huun, Jo kisi ke kaam naa aa saka, Mein woh ek musht-e-gubaar hoon." Here, 'musht-e-gubaar' means 'handful of dust'.

There is another facet to this problem. What happens if we ever reach a stage when we manage our garbage the way it should be managed and the dogs are unable to find even the scraps that keep them going? This is not so inconceivable because even now many housing societies have reached that enviable stage. I know our society has when I see the small number of neatly tied up garbage bags that await the PMC truck every morning. Nor is it inconceivable that in such a situation the dogs will turn to the best source of food - humans themselves. Is it really hard to think of packs of scavenging dogs turning into packs of hunting dogs and going after the smallest and weakest among us? This is not as far-fetched as it seems, for just on September 7, 2008, stray dogs went on a rampage in Bamra town in the district of Sambalpur, about 400 kms from Bhubaneswar in Orissa, injuring at least 40 people and leading to the closure of the town for three days.

FINDING A SOLUTION

Finally, if we summarize the entire problem it comes to this: Firstly, the dogs cannot be left on the roads as they do pose a threat to pedestrians and just making our streets garbage free, is not going to result in their going away but could instead make them desperate with hunger and therefore dangerous. Secondly, culling did not work before and is not going to be effective now. Thirdly, neutering, spaying and vaccination are most effective in both controlling the dog populations and the incidence of rabies but need better co-operation as well as significant funds. Now that the key problems have been identified, we have to strive for a solution. We have to accept that the answer lies, not in 'killing the beast' but in 'taming the beast'. We also have to accept that our rejection of them, even in many cases our ill treatment of them and indifference to their means of survival, has been mainly responsible for the outrage they have become. In some way or the other, we all are the Frankensteins who have created this monster, and so we have to reverse the trends and right the wrongs.

Keeping in mind, both the sheer size of the dog population as well as the colossal amount of money that would be required to do anything effective, for once we have to stop expecting only the Government agencies and the NGOs to succeed. This is one problem that requires citizens to step in and shoulder responsibility. One solution that has been advocated is mass adoption. Already stray dogs have marked their territories and housing societies, mohallas, slums and even colleges with large campuses could adopt the dogs who have made that area, their territory. The sick, the old and the crippled could be put to sleep in the most painless and humane way possible. For the rest, each group need not take on more than they can sustain. This has to be done with the help of trained professionals like the Blue Cross. The dogs have to be neutered and vaccinated. Gentle treatment and continued care would win their trust. If the dogs are fed, if they are addressed with affection, in time they will learn to return the affection.

People could themselves raise the funds for their food and medical treatment and could help to bathe and groom them, so they grow clean and healthy and do not remain a hazard to the health and well-being of the public. In return the dogs would guard the place. Most of all, children living in apartments, many of whom are unable to have pets, will learn to interact with them. It is very important in the development of a child, for them to forge some kind of bond with animals. This will also ensure that our next generation grows up less self-absorbed and with less apathy and indifference and instead develops a tendency to care for and cherish other creatures. Nature has designed dogs to be man's best friend. Why don't we just allow them to play their inherent role?