New Delhi: Aprajita, a Vasant Kunj resident, is jolted into action by a bark outside her house. She rushes out to check on the usually languid indie. Since the Supreme Court ordered authorities to move stray dogs into shelters, Delhi residents have been keeping watch over their neighbourhood dogs. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court is set to hear the matter, but dog lovers are already on edge.
“We will follow them [the MCD] to see which shelters they’re taking them to,” said Aprajita. “The fact is, there are very few shelters. We do everything on our own.”
A network of feeders, caregivers, security guards, and residents has sprung into action. From Vasant Kunj to Janakpuri to Tilak Nagar, neighbourhoods across Delhi — home to around 10 lakh stray dogs — are working out ways to ‘save’ the strays they’ve come to love.
Security guards have been instructed to alert residents at the first whir of a van. Meanwhile, residents are keeping strays inside their homes or sending them to boarding houses within and outside the city.
“If they’re taken by the MCD, they will not come back,” said Rekha, another Vasant Kunj resident. She feeds about a hundred dogs daily, a ritual she calls paying her dues to the “universe” and speaking up for the “voiceless.”
Rekha said she has already sent 50 dogs to a boarding house in Delhi. The rent for sheltering a single dog is Rs 5,000 a month — a cost she and a few other residents are bearing.
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On the streets, in their hearts
Rohit Bhatia, a fashion designer, is searching for an apartment that will house not just his partner and their current menagerie, but also the 15 dogs he feeds. He is resolute: there is no way he will stop feeding them.
“I’m not delusional, but I’ve been whispering to them: if someone comes, go away,” he said, seated at his workshop, where the steady rhythm of sewing machines is interrupted by the soft barks of Simba.
Both his home and workshop are in Neb Sarai. He has told workers and others in the area to inform him the moment an MCD van arrives.
Like other dog lovers, he can reel off details about each of ‘his’ dogs. Fluffy has psychological trauma, Salman is handsome beyond belief, and James is the original baby.
In Janakpuri, Ranjana is looking for boarding houses that will take in the most timid of her “children.” She too has asked shopkeepers and security guards to keep her informed about the dogs’ safety.
WhatsApp groups are ablaze with unverified reports of pick-up vans in different parts of the city.
Also read: Stray dogs have the right to live. SC order can trigger a wave of animal cruelty
‘Can’t take them all in’
Civil society is mobilising. Protests have erupted in Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. Nearly everyone ThePrint spoke to talked about a sense of collective ownership — the belief that these dogs “belong to the community.”
In Vasant Kunj’s B-1 block, all 30 stray dogs have been sterilised and vaccinated. The aggressive ones are given anti-anxiety pills and CBD oil; their coats glisten from being brushed with apple cider vinegar.
In a Janakpuri neighbourhood, there hasn’t been a litter in 10 years — which is why residents can’t understand why their dogs should be removed from the streets.
“We’ve arranged for homes where they can temporarily stay,” said Anuradha Mehrotra, a B-1 resident.
The dogs in her neighbourhood are the axis on which her life spins. Outside her house, a table is stacked with medicine — all for dogs. Two feeding bowls and one water bowl are placed by the door.
But sheltering dogs indoors is only a temporary solution. There are simply too many of them. And most have lived their whole lives on the street, making it hard to keep them confined in a DDA flat for long.
Every year around Diwali, Aprajita takes in about 10 dogs at her ground-floor home to shield them from firecrackers. At the same time, she sends her own indies to a boarding house.
“We can’t take them all in. Most of us already have indie dogs at home,” she said. “But if they [the MCD] do come, there’s a protocol. They have to show us their licence, and the court order should be in their hands.”
Also read: Delhi’s war on dogs has turned RWAs into a battleground. ‘They’re fighting, not debating’
The court order won’t hold
Earlier in the day, sandwiched between discussions of resistance, Aprajita heard a fellow caregiver say, “It’s better for the dogs to be euthanised than sent to shelters.” Regardless, the Delhi government doesn’t have a shelter of its own. What exists instead are filthy, underfunded MCD-run ABC centres.
“They get very restless. It’s horrific,” she said.
Anuradha said there have been no cases yet of dogs being picked up by the MCD. As of Wednesday, she and other volunteers were trying to secure a meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — “because we need to whip up political support.”
Mobilising and temporary measures aside, those advocating for stray dogs are certain the order is unworkable.
“I am confident this won’t hold. The MCD can’t even vaccinate,” said Anuradha.
(Edited by Prashant)
If the government issues a ban on breeding and sale of foreign breeds more indie dogs will be adopted. This combined with what is done by vaccination, spaying and feeding stray dogs could reduce the street dog population.
Believe me not all street dogs get fed. Life is a cruel struggle and not only the dogs but people who are kind to them are ridiculed and abused.
Those people who are/ have been taking care of their community dogs can geotag them if possible so that it will be possible for them to locate the shelter they’ve been kept in. Also, it is sad to have come to this. Had the responsible authorities done their job/ duty efficiently, we would not come to see this day. This, in my opinion, is quite harsh. It’s like punishing the entire family of an individual who has committed a crime. There are better solutions possible, albeit long term. More involvement of NGO’s and Animal welfare communities and people at large can do their bit by adopting community dogs. Also, citizens must be sensitised towards their behaviour with these creatures. Many a times, dogs chasing bikes etc and getting aggressive towards children is more of a reaction on their part due to a few motorists deliberately trying to run over them or people pelting stones at them without any reason. Unfortunately, this causes them to get aggressive towards the unsuspecting citizen which, I feel, is a major reason for the root cause of this entire issue and public sentiment.
Each one of these bleeding heart dog lovers should be arrested and prosecuted. They must be held responsible and accountable for the thousands of cases of dog bites and related deaths.
Shameless people who have absolutely no sympathy or compassion for their fellow human beings.
I hope the three-judge SC bench declares stray dogs as vermin so that people can initiate culling on their own. This is the only feasible solution to this menace.