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Dogs are one of the most emotionally evolved species with the ability to experience feelings of love, anger, stress, anxiety, joy, depression. They can not speak and yet are more expressive than most people. However, we have failed as a society to given them the dignity they deserve.
We think of ourselves as the most superior, entitled, and privileged species. Self-absorbed and self-obsessed, we have forgotten that the planet earth is as much of the plants, birds, animals. In fact, we have a responsibility towards everyone and everything that shares this wonderful planet with us.
We kill & have taken away the dignity of most living things on earth. Specifically, our Indian street dogs (also referred to as mixed breed, mutt, Desi, Indian Feral, Indian Pariah, Indian Pye , Street or an indie dog). This native dog breed can be found everywhere in India from the deserts to the snow-capped mountains.
It’s one of the hardest life. Imagine being hungry (they are dependent on humans for food), homeless, voiceless, unable to convey if they are hurt, trying to survive in extreme weather conditions day in and day out. Many are driven away from their territories, killed, displaced, poisoned. Worst is the fate of the female dogs who give birth to puppies on the street, most die of some disease or by being hit by a vehicle & if that does not kill them then hunger & thirst surely does. I often wonder what the mother dog goes through, how helpless she feels seeing her puppies fight for life every single day, most not making it.
Some dogs get rabies & that needs absolute attention. Few are aggressive to protect themselves, their territory, mostly because of past traumatic experiences (tails & ear cut for fun, beaten, abused, buried alive). There have been incidents of dog attacking babies and kids which has been horrible. We humans do worse and at that time we do not say that all humans should be eliminated because one human killed another.
The solution lies in protecting & creating safe zones for dogs & humans to co-exist. We have roughly 60 million stray dogs. There is no law that prohibits feeding of street animals, citizens who choose to do so are performing a duty cast upon them by the Constitution of India. As per Indian law, street dogs cannot be beaten or driven away. A human who loves dogs (not just pedigree, yes there is a difference) needs to be supported. The only humane, legal, scientific way is to get them fed, protected, vaccinated and sterilized (Sterilization helps calm the dogs & restricts their numbers, something they can’t otherwise do without human intervention. Dogs above the age of 5 months can be sterilized.
Many people don’t like dogs simply because they have their own fears. Are we so entitled that we have the conscious to kill a living thing just because we see it as an inconvenience?
Most of us shop rather than adopt dogs. This act is worse since we catalyse & support an industry where retrievers, labs, huskies, pugs are chained for life & bred multiple times. It is pure supply-demand. Many female dogs are kidnapped & once they are past their breeding age, they are abandoned, left chained to die or culled. These pedigree dogs at our home, we may love them, but we close our eyes to the fact that we have contributed to this illegal breeding industry. Please know that there are no ethical breeders. On the flip side, our indies that are best suited to the Indian subcontinent die a lonely, homeless death on the streets. Dogs are not gifts or status symbols. Many dogs have been abandoned post COVID or because there is a new baby at home. The dog dies of anxiety & depression waiting for its owner forever.
Our outlook needs to change. We need to adopt our indies, not shop for foreign breeds & fuel the inhumane breeding industry. There are more cases of dogs giving their lives away protecting their human companions than them attacking. They are loyal, friendly & extremely trustworthy. Most Hindu gods had dogs as companions. From Sai baba to kal Bhairav god (manifestation of shiva). Lord Dattatreya, an incarnation of the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, Maheswar) was always followed by four dogs symbolically representing the four Vedas. Lord Yama took the form of a Dog to accompany Yudhishthira during his final journey. Indra Dev has a dog named Sarama, all indies.
We all need to collectively take care of the street dogs in our areas/ localities. It does not take much but just a little kindness & you will have their heart forever. Try feeding a dog once and you will know what I mean.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.
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