 "The stray dog: Not a stray issue for India anymore")
The stray dog issue in India is not a new topic of debate, but it has been reignited in a strong manner with the horrific death of a one and a half year-old baby girl in the national capital a couple of days ago, allegedly due to mauling by stray dogs in the area.
India has the highest number of stray dog attacks in the world, along with the highest cases of rabies deaths. Several incidents of stray dog attacks have led to a public outrage against stray dogs, who have now been vilified as a menace and a threat to public safety.
However, is it right to blame the stray dogs and call for their culling or selective slaughter? Or should we instead focus on identifying the root cause of the problem and finding a solution.
In many instances, helpless, homeless, and wordless stray dogs are often made scapegoats to mask other controversial events, and the common knee-jerk reaction of people to that is usually a violent one.
Animal welfare organisation Project Kindness Foundation, on February 27th, brought up some pertinent questions and facts regarding the tragic death of the 16-month-old baby girl at Tughlaq Lane in New Delhi.
The Dhobi Ghat where the child lived was a gated compound which no community dog had access to; however, there was a Pitbull (an exceptionally strong and ferocious breed) that lived with the child’s family. This dog was mostly kept tied up and used for illegal and unethical breeding purposes. Due to this reason, the Pitbull was unfriendly and aggressive, with at least two confirmed incidents in the recent past confirming this.
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More ShortsThe area was adjacent to Shri LK Advani’s residence, which means that the neighbourhood was well monitored and has an abundant number of CCTV cameras, whose footage establishes the presence of the Pitbull, as it was walked daily by the girl’s family. The Pitbull now appears to be missing, and if so, then why? Also, why has nobody investigated the presence and the possible role of this particular Pitbull, also a victim of his or her own circumstances, being kept constantly leashed, which amounts to animal cruelty.
The morning of the incident, the lane behind House No. 7 where the child was discovered later in the day, had been cordoned off due to an event and was thronging with human activity (caterers, staff, parked vehicles and their drivers, etc.). It seems odd that no one noticed such an alarming attack taking place. Also, now the question that begs to be asked is: How was a 16-month-old child left unnoticed and unattended by her parents or extended family, and how did she reach the spot where she was found? Was she left unattended at her own home, where the Pitbull also resided?
Illegal and ungoverned breeding of strong breeds, such as Pitbulls, is rampant for dog fights and selling purposes.
Inciting dogs to fight is illegal under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, but organised dog fights are prevalent in many North Indian states, especially in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. This sickening entertainment is organised by people for both gambling and amusement. Two dogs are made to fight, often to death, even though they are screaming in pain due to their wounds. Strong, ferocious foreign breeds such as Pitbulls, Pakistani Bully Kuttas, and Mastiffs are often bred and crossbred illegally for such heinous money-making events.
PETA India has flagged this issue many times to local state governments, and after an incident involving a pitbull and a seven-year-old girl in Rohini, Delhi, PETA India wrote a letter to CM Arvind Kejriwal urging him to take action against such criminals who breed such dogs, creating ultimately aggressive, angry, and dangerous animals through methods of cruelty and torture that serve their purposes for ring dog fights, etc. While we still don’t know exactly what happened, it is wrong to come to an immediate conclusion without examining the facts, just because stray dogs can’t speak up for themselves.
Yes, there are incidents where stray dogs have been known to misbehave, but there are also incidents where they have been heroes. There are several reported instances where stray dogs have found abandoned babies or children and protected them from other elements until help arrived. In 2016, in Purulia district of West Bengal, four stray dogs stood guard over an abandoned newborn baby for four days until she was rescued by authorities.
An hours-old baby girl with her umbilical cord still attached, who was deserted by her parents on the streets of Lormi village in Chhattisgarh a few years ago, was saved by a female stray dog who was a new mother herself. She watched over the baby and her own puppies for hours, fiercely prevented others from approaching them, and saved the infant’s life.
Over the years, there have been countless reports of stray dogs helping ordinary people on the streets escape muggers and robbers and, on occasion, even sexual predators.
A few years ago in Madhya Pradesh, a stray dog in the Chhola area came to the rescue of a 29-year-old woman who used to feed him from a man who had intruded on her house and tried to molest her. He pounced on the molester and managed to scare him away, but not before receiving a knife wound, sustaining a permanent injury to his front leg.
Stray dogs are not monsters, just like most humans aren’t. They are usually created.
Mansie Kumar, an animal welfare volunteer in Delhi, says, “It’s only when stray dogs go hungry and are tortured or beaten by local security guards and people with sticks and stones that they turn aggressive and ferocious. Feeding stray dogs is very important, as well-fed dogs will fall sick less and be at peace. Hunger and/or abuse drive any living being to madness, including humans, so feeding one’s local stray animals and coming to their medical aid should be recognised as purely an act of kindness to the animal as well as society.”
Local authorities and municipal corporations should also take responsibility for promoting the welfare of stray dogs, carry out stringent vaccination procedures, and take the strictest action against illegal local breeders to make sure humans and stray dogs feel safe and are at peace with each other.
They don’t call dogs a man’s best friend for nothing. Let’s not make us and them enemies.
The author is a freelance journalist and features writer based out of Delhi. Her main areas of focus are politics, social issues, climate change and lifestyle-related topics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._
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