SAMBA: MUTT BYTES

SAMBA: MUTT BYTES:  People living in India as well as those who have stayed in INDIA for a while would know that existence of street dogs is a common phe...

SAMBA: MUTT BYTES

SAMBA: MUTT BYTES:  People living in India as well as those who have stayed in INDIA for a while would know that existence of street dogs is a common phe...

MUTT BYTES

 People living in India as well as those who have stayed in INDIA for a while would know that existence of street dogs is a common phenomenon. At the least they would be familiar with the sight of street dogs loitering around in the vicinity , howling and barking at unearthly hours. Street dogs or stray dogs as we know mark their boundaries and stay in specific areas , sometimes a group of them coexist within the same area or a locality or a street and guard it  against mutts outside those defined boundaries.

Now in a place like Bangalore , stray dogs are considered to be a menace . Based on the population of strays in Bangalore , there is a saying - " In Bangalore , if you throw a stone in the dark it will hit a software engineer or a dog". These dogs attack toddlers who easily fall prey to them , bite children and adults alike , jump on people riding motorbikes resulting in fatal road accidents.To make the situation worse , even if the residents of the locality lodge complaints to address the stray canines related problems they face and the municipality starts culling the street dogs hoping that this would mitigate the problems ,if not solve them entirely , there are animal rights activists who would protest against culling of innocent street dogs emphasising the fact that even dogs have a right to live. Not that they help in putting these animals in any animal welfare centre or try to find a suitable home for them. They just believe in protesting and then doing nothing about the actual problem.These fringe groups only believe in gaining lime light by politicising an issue let alone solve it.Lack of animal welfare centres in the state also adds to these existing problems.

  At the end of it all , we curse the dogs and the system and start adjusting with the situation.But there is a way out if we feel responsible for the situation we are in and try to solve it ourselves. One thing we should understand is these canines possess a survival instinct which makes them do what they do . For example , people living in a locality complain about street dogs but at the same time do not even think twice before dumping garbage at places easily accessible to these dogs. Garbage cans are put at places accessible to these dogs. Disposing Garbage on empty fields nearby is also a problem. Meat
shop owners callously dump inedible parts of goats, sheep and chicken around the shop which attract the stray canines who feed on them.This results in increasing numbers of street hounds who compete for these meaty leftovers and become aggressive in nature.Clean India Campaign initiated by the Govt will hold value only if we as citizens make an effort to keep our surroundings clean. This in turn will also help in solving the stray dogs issue.
   
Though there are methods adopted by the animal welfare organisations, like mass immunisation and sterilisation of these strays who could be caught , we need to do what we are capable of . For e.g I have 4 strays in my locality. I am close to two in particular .I have known one since she had first
wandered into our locality.She was pregnant and was searching for a safe place to deliver her babies (which turned out to be a litter of 5 pups out of which only the weakest one survived) . I have known the other one since she was a motherless puppy along with her 3 little brothers and sisters (eventually the only survivor in a litter of 4 puppies).I feed these dogs whenever possible and I can bet on their loyalty once you have been able to bond with them.If they notice me , walking out of my apartment building main gate they run towards me , wagging their tails in sync and expect me to cuddle them
or feed them.They will even make some cute noises or lick your hands just to express their happiness. On some days during the week,  they spot me walking to the Bus stand(I catch a Bus to office everyday) and they escort me as far as their self defined boundaries allow them to.They even escort my wife if they spot her walking out of the main gate of our apartment building even though my wife keeps a safe distance from them. I strongly believe this is how these dogs express their gratitude or show their loyalty towards humans, whatever you might want to call it. Probably among all animals , dogs express their emotions in a way that humans could comprehend.

Besides, their howling(one howls and all follow suit) at nocturnal hours not only helps in keeping the thieves and antisocial entities at bay but also you could count on these strays to fight aggressively in order to defend their territories against other dogs thus not allowing more of these strays to scavenge
our localities. I have observed these activities time and again and it gives me a great sense of security , especially if someday I am returning from office late at night , walking alone on the solitary lane of my locality towards the main gate of my apartment and I have two street dogs who start wagging their tails at the mere sight of me approaching them , each one keeping watch on opposite ends of that lane.If we can take care of these dogs in our own capacity then we can work the "stray dog" crisis to our own advantage.