karmayog] response 22: Stray Dogs – perspective of an American in Mumbai

Stray Dogs – Suggestion

Source – email :Karilyn owen

karmayog] response 22: Stray Dogs – perspective of an American in MumbaiI am impressed with the recent few emails regarding this issue. they are very well informed and give very accurate information about the dog situation. Unfortunately though, there are a lot of people out there that pass on age old stereotypes and misinformation regarding strays and why they exist and why they act as they do. We must each do our part to educate ourselves and spread that on through our family and friends!

Disclosure: I am an animal lover and I am “one of those” that feeds stray dogs/cats in my area. I am also a foreigner living here and have a much different perspective on the state of affairs here and how PEOPLE, not organizations can go about making small changes on a daily basis.

The real issues thati think that need to be addressed are:

1. Sterilizing all dogs/cats as soon as possible, from a government level, not just NGO level, and also initiated from a local resident level.

Sterilization:I understand people’s religious views against sterilization or interfering in mother nature, but if you ever hope to live in a city that is not overrun by dogs, then you must put some of your own personal issues aside and think of the greater good of your city and community.

Sterilization and/or capture are the only real options for these animals. It is difficult often times to catch the pack dogs to sterilize them. But when they are caught, they should be sterilized and then kept in animal shelters where they can be either trained or just kept away from the public where they could harm people. Through mass sterilization campaigns you will find the incidence of strays decline year after year. Killing of dogs does not generally affect the overall population. And random sterilization will also have little effect.

2. Educating people on the difference between packs and solitary strays

A distinction needs to be made between the neighborhood stray dogs and the PACKS of dogs. the neighborhood stray dogs are usually very docile and gentle and are only looking for attention and love. If a dog puts its leg on you, it is wanting your attention, not wanting to hurt you. Feeding these dogs has absolutely NO impact on whether they attack humans or not. A well fed and well treated dog is 99% more likely to treat ALL passerbys gently.

On the other hand, the packs of stray dogs are dangerous and scary – even to those of us who handle strays often. The precense of these dogs does not depend on people giving food – in my experience the wild dogs will not even accept food from people and run away when approached (or bark and cause a ruckus). These dogs are very wild, raised in packs and continue to live in packs, much like their ancestors, the wolf. And yes, these dogs are typically located around garbage dumps.

3. Educating people on the ill effects of abusing animals

the more you abuse animals, the more aggressive and unpredictable they become
Once an animal has recieved constant beatings from passerbys, they tend to get shy and sometimes aggressive when they are scared.
Think about your own actions – how do you react when you are scared?

4. Putting some responsibity in the hands of local residents on “their” strays

for example, there used to be 12 stray dogs in my little lane of 5 buildings. They were all sterilized many years back and now, through normal life on the roads, there are only 2 dogs left.

This is not just an “Animal NGO” issue. This is your issue. If you see a liter of pups born in your neighborhood, please call your local animal NGO and make them aware that there are new pups that need to be sterilized. If you notice a female dog in the area that often gives birth, again call your local group to have that dog sterilized. YOU have to start to take responsibility for YOUR enviornment. You cannot always sit back and blame the bad state of affairs on the government or others. It is your responsibility as well.

On a side issue:

Furthermore, If your street is dirty – get a collection of money from residents and hire a local person from the slums to clean your street daily/weekly. Collect money to put up a garbage can or several in your area.

Yes, the ideal situation would be for the government to be doing these things, but since they aren’t you must take responsibility for your area.

And as Gandhi said: Be the change you want to see in the world.

and my favorite –

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Thanks for providing a forum for letting people share their own thoughts and opinions. Obviously the stray dog issue is very controversial, but with education and information dissemination I think real progress can be made.

Thanks for reading.