Metroblogging Bangalore: It's not the dogs, its us

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It's not the dogs, it's us

posted by Anita Bora

<http://bangalore.metblogs.com/profile.phtml?author=991> at 9:56 AM on

March 10, 2007

I've been reading the furore over the stray dogs episode over the last

few days. Reading headlines like " man eating dogs " , when you know that

dogs don't eat men, is quite disturbing and sends the wrong message

altogether.

 

And while it's easy to blame the dogs, I think we need to acknowledge

that it is largely a problem of our own making.

 

It's time to stop blaming dogs and ask ourselves how we got into this

miserable state of affairs.

 

It's we who have allowed Bangalore to become a city with the largest

stray dog population. It's we, who have allowed our garbage bins to

spill out into every corner of the city. It's we who have looked the

other way when our bins are overflowing into the streets. We are the

ones creating filth and human waste all around our neighbourhoods

without a thought to the consequences. It's not the dogs. We have not

heeded the danger signs and it's we who have NOT taken the right

measures when they needed to be taken.

 

 

With the civic authorities and the NGOs blaming each other for the

current state of affairs (how did we get here?!), no matter who is to

finally blame, the bottom line remains that we are responsible. I

presume the NGOs work on whatever funds that they can gather and I've

personally visited some of these animal welfare organizations and it's

quite amazing the kind of work some of the people put in (mostly as

volunteers, and for free). Their pounds are always overflowing and the

people are always working around the clock at the centres.

 

I have no idea what the civic authorities have done so far as this

problem goes and why they waited so long to act (and the acting now by

resorting to mass culling is absolutely deplorable). While they would

like to shift the blame to the NGOs for not being able to control the

dog population, isn't it their final responsibility to make sure that

the city is livable and safe (from dangerous man killing humans too, I

should perhaps add)?

 

It's not something that was a secret - in many forwards and facts about

Bangalore, there is usually a mention that Bangalore has the highest

population of street dogs. What have they been doing all this while?

 

Consider this: When does a dog really attack? When they're provoked or

threatened. And what brings about this behaviour?

 

We have thousands of dogs in houses. Why aren't they (usually)

dangerous? Of course, many of us have sustained the occasional bites

from house dogs but this is hardly something that is never made into an

issue. In a homely environment, dogs don't (normally) attack.

 

While civic authorities have been quick to blame illegal meat shops and

dumping of offal in garbage that is hardly cleared, and the public has

been quick to latch on the theory that street dogs feeding on raw meat

become ferocious and kill humans. However, this is only part of the

truth says T Gopal, who is the retired director of the Institute of

Animal Health.

 

In the Hindu, he is quoted: " The causes behind dogs turning aggressive

are intrinsically linked. As the city has grown, the availability of

food has increased. So we see food waste being dumped at many places. In

such areas, dogs start to form groups and roam around together. When the

dogs start roaming in groups, they become more powerful and develop a

pack mentality. It's imperative that we stop street dogs forming packs. "

 

" If the leader of the pack, which is generally the most aggressive,

attacks a person, then all the others will follow suit, " says Animal

Welfare Board Chairman, RM Kharb.

 

Meanwhile, as a knee-jerk reaction, you have the government trying to

catch dogs by whatever means possible and dispose of them in absolutely

inhumane manners. Any human with some empathy will be shocked at the way

the carcasses are being disposed. The March 9 Hindu carried a report

about how the BBMP is loading carcasses onto lorries and dumping them in

the city's outskirts near villages. And all this, obviously, is all

okay?

 

Why did we allow things to reach this state?

 

Maybe it's time to stop blaming dogs and ask ourselves how we got

ourselves into this miserable state of affairs?

 

" Killing all stray dogs because one dog killed a child is senseless.

It's like ordering all humans to be killed, because one human killed

another. Strays should be captured, evaluated if necessary, sent to

permanent, temporary shelters, vaccinated and cared for, " says a

gentleman. Makes more sense than the senseless killing that we are

embarking on now. Animals don't have the intelligence of man, and yet we

are the ones who reach these deplorable lows in the way we behave, react

and think.

 

I have often seen kids (and even grown-up adults) throwing stones,

beating them with sticks, chasing and trying to hurt dogs. The other

day, on the road, I saw a gang of two on a motorcycle trying to scare a

limping dog on the street by nearly driving into him and killing him.

Aren't we then equally dangerous and deplorable creatures to be roaming

on the streets and by the same logic, shouldn't all dangerous people be

culled and killed?

 

Here are some reasonable and humane methods to control strays:

 

Sandeep Bharucha, Secretary of CUPA

 

- Effective management of solid waste

- Multi-pronged approach, which includes sterilization, re-vaccination,

aggressive adoption and removal of unfit dogs

- A large dog shelter - spread over five acres - built by the

corporation and managed by - NGOs to house healthy, sterilized and

friendly dogs

- Community dogs can be collared licensed, sterilized and vaccinated

 

BG Ramakrishna, President of Karuna Animal Welfare Association

 

- Public should be urged to adopt stray dogs

- Corporation should build animal shelters

 

Dilip Bafna, Animal Rights Funds Trustee

 

- Animal Birth Control programme should be re-started

- Educate the public, including children government officials about

responsible ways to behave with animals

- Street plays and distribution of pamphlets about ways to adopt stray

dogs

 

Poornima Harish, Krupa Loving Animals Trustee

 

- Environment kept clean

- ABC and anti-rabies vaccination programme should be continued to reach

all stray dogs.

- Be sensitive in handling the stray dog issue and not create a mass

hysteria

 

- Courtesy, TOI, March 10

 

Instead of reacting like humans, let's react in a humane manner instead.