There should be a pets lifecycle attached to every pet owner right from adoption till the pets death. If the owner abandons the pet midway he should be penalized and jailed.
Devdas will be everywhere and for every situation.
Shh! Sitharaman is here and might propose this as the first point in the next bill.
Devdas wonât agree as ever bite they will take as a kiss and hug. They are not practical just emotional hence we are far behind in a few aspects.
Not a pet owner, but Iâd happily pay that amount if it meant I could walk around my colony (anywhere, actually) or come back home late at night without the fear of being mauled by a group of several growling dogs. When the latter happened, I swear I instantly forgot all about my atheism and started praying to god to let me get back home safely. Iâve been bitten twice (fortunately, very minor incidents) in my life and have faced aggressive dogs whose owners had to rein them in, so no, my fear isnât baseless. Plus, the stories from friends and family where they werenât as lucky as I was and even had flesh ripped off. I shudder to even think of it.
Honestly, it is definitely a human-created problem. Itâs not just dogs. Weâve also faced issues with monkeys for more than 2 decades at my place. Theyâve constantly terrorised us and have bitten several people in the colony. People continue to make that situation worse by feeding them and making them reliant on us. They now naturally expect something and become aggressive when that doesnât happen. Despite a few people being attacked in our colony by monkeys, these religious nutjobs donât care and continue feeding them. I feel nothing but disgust and hatred towards them.
Anyway, back to the point. I agree with the other commenters that this isnât a problem that can be solved overnight. It would take months, or even years of dedicated sterilisation drives with tagging, shelter creation, adoption initiatives, and public education (maybe even laws) to not feed strays unless theyâre willing to get them spayed/neutered, and from the hundreds of people Iâve known and seen, the majority (100% in my tiny sample size) arenât interested in doing that.
The Stray Dog Problem
- How is dog behaviour interpreted?
In my experience dogs are not aggressive. They are a domesticated species, and through evolution have developed the capacity to interpret human behaviour. However, most humans have never learnt how to listen to animals.
A dog may rush towards a person, barking loudly.
The dog may be aggressive, or it may be friendly. Indian dogs, like us Indians are loud and demonstrative. Something the world calls uncivilised, but in my opinion itâs uncivilised to keep your emotions and intent hidden so that you can take advantage of the open and honest.
Anyway, the dog, running towards you, barking madly, could just be really excited to see you, and is thinking âhey, youâre back, and you smell different, like the world I have never seen, of dogs and people Iâve never met, let me get close to you and figure out what the worlds like!â
A person whoâs grown up around dogs wonât be perturbed, and will either calmly ignore the dog, or greet it back.
But a person whoâs scared of them will interpret the same action as aggressive, and will either
a) try and shoo the dog away, making the dog to turn aggressive or
b) will get scared, and start screaming in a high voice, and start acting skittish, which will make the dog think itâs a game, and the dog will continue barking and running towards you, because it enjoys this game where you act all funny, or
c) they will get scared and run, and the dog will chase you, because thatâs one of their instincts that we prized, when they hunted alongside us.
Over time, this behaviour will become ingrained, because our reactions have drilled it into them. This is probably why in some areas dogs are calm, and in others theyâre hyper excitable. It has less to do with the dogs, and more to do about our reactions towards their behaviour.
So, while the dogs may not display aggressive behaviour, our familiarity with animals will define how we interpret it.
- What about the feeders?
In my experience, animal lovers become feeders and activists by accident. A few pats here, a few biscuits there, and then they can no longer bear the thought of their friend going hungry. Now, when they feed one, a few more join in, and before you know it, the pat on the way home has led to people spending a couple of hours each day feeding and looking after the creatures around them.
They begin taking them to the vet, getting them neutered, and vaccinated. All the while, their efforts are not only unappreciated by most city dwellers, but vocal animal haters abuse and intimidate them. Thatâs why most dog feeders can seem to be a bit aggressive in their defence of animals. Like the fear people have of animals, itâs a learned behaviour thatâs been drilled into them, through countless years of facing scorn and derision.
So, in the areas where animals are fed, the dogs are vaccinated and neutered, and theyâve learnt to protect their feeders when they face the aggression of people who canât stand what theyâre doing.
But in areas a hundred feet down the road, the dogs are eating garbage, and breeding like rabbits.
The Municipal Corporations are not doing the job that volunteers are doing, and the dog population keeps increasing, and the unvaccinated, un-neutered dogs keep increasing in number.
They fight over piles of garbage, and fight with the dogs in the feeders area, trying to eke out a living. They are more likely to have rabies than the dogs looked after by the feeders.
The feeders are completely overwhelmed. Physically, emotionally, and financially. They have no time for themselves.
But once you begin taking care of someone, itâs very difficult to stop.
- What should we do about this?
The first thing we need to ask ourselves is, do we want a society where we try and understand each other, and learn to accept and live with our fellow earthlings â human and otherwise.
Seeing how fragmented and divisive relations between us fellow humans is, Iâm not sure of the answer.
But if we, as a community, do decide that we want to live in a world shaped by kindness, knowledge, understanding and acceptance, and are willing to make compromises so that we can live in harmony with all our neighbours, then I think Iâd be even prouder to say that I am an Indian. And those are the values that I think will make India the âVishwaguruâ it aspires to be.
I have a few solutions for the dog problem.
- There should be an App that all dog feeders have to register on.
a) This app will track which dogs have been fed, and how much â so that dogs are neither overfed, nor go hungry, because often multiple people feed the same dogs, while others a few feet away are starving.
b) The app will keep a track of the dogs vaccination status, and health and behaviour records. It will show clearly if the dog is neutered or not. If not, the Municipal corporation will get a nudge to co-ordinate with the feeders, and take the dog for neutering.
c) The app will show the dedicated corporation employee for each area, whoâll pick up food the RWAâs and feeders, and use that to feed the dogs that have not been fed. It will also be his/her responsibility to monitor the dogs behaviour and report any aggression to the trainers.
d) The app will also have dog trainers on board. These trainers will teach both the dogs, and their human neighbours how to get along. Theyâll train the dogs to get used to a collar and leash, and theyâll train humans how to behave amongst animals.
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The feeders burden should be eased, so that instead of spending all their time feeding dogs, they can devote their time to more high value tasks, like dog training, and human and dog behaviour modification. This can be achieved by co-ordinating amongst the feeders themselves, so that effort is not duplicated, and trust amongst them is achieved. A dedicated employee/volunteer/intern for each area is a must, so that all dogs in the area are fed, neutered and vaccinated, not just the dogs who are visible.
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Dog trainers should be employed, and feeders should be trained to become trainers. A concentrated effort must be made to educate dogs and humans how to behave with each other. All dogs should at the very least be trained to stop, sit, and lie down on command. Humans should also be taught how to behave with dogs, and informed how they inadvertently cause dogs to act aggressively.
I donât think villagers have problems with their local dogs, and Iâve read reports about the Bishnoiâs living peacefully side-by-side with lions and leopards.
I, and I think most of us Indians too, value all life, want to leave peacefully with all our neighbours.
I believe living in harmony is very achievable, and these are the thoughts I have had about that.
The way youâve phrased it just sounds like victim blaming. I grew up around dogs in a joint-ish family, and have always been fond of them (Two aggressive ones being an exception. Their shitty owners did nothing but laugh it off.), and honestly Iâm still really fond of them, and all animals in general, despite some terrible experiences. The two times Iâve been bitten, there was no clear signal and I didnât act in a way I hadnât acted a hundred times with other dogs. The incident when I was greeted with aggressive dogs near my house at night was probably some territorial thing and they were in a pack, so that made things worse.
But what was my fault? What did I perceive incorrectly? You painted a picture where dogs are innocent, human reactions are at fault, and left out so many instances where strays can be genuinely aggressive. Thereâs fear, pain/illness, pack mentality, hormonal behaviour, and so much more. But Iâm sure you know about these things. I just wish you had a more neutral take, instead of the way you presented it.
Honestly, Iâm thrilled to hear about your experience where feeders vaccinate and spay/neuter dogs, but my experience has been the opposite. Iâve met hundreds of feeders - friends, family, colleagues, or neighbours, and not one person has taken these dogs to a vet or got them spayed/neutered. Theyâve always been happy by feeding them, and that has been it. I really hope that feeders like you and the people you mentioned grow in numbers, because that displays a lot of empathy and responsibility. But sadly, my experience differs, and I believe that the majority wonât do it, because it takes time, money, and effort, and theyâre content with the short lived dopamine hit of only feeding them.
I hope the answer to this is a resounding yes by most. So many of us are stuck in pro X or anti X biases, that weâre not thinking rationally with empathy, and it has just become Group A vs Group B, both resorting to attacks against each other and not listening to valid arguments from each side.
I wasnât trying to blame the victim, I was trying to make a point how intentions get lost in translation. I meant something in my post, but you interpreted it differently.
If picking up the wrong signal is so easy between members of the same species, speaking the same language, how much easier it is to pick up the wrong signal from different species.
About your getting bitten. Animals, like humans, can be ar****es too. They can have bad moods, they could be taking their anger out on an innocent. Not all dogs are friendly, just like not all humans are angels. But the degree to which they act like di**s can be moderated if we understand them a bit better.
About the feeders - everyones different. And while they may want to neuter the dogs, not everyone has the means to do so. It involves capturing the dog, transporting it to the vet, and then bringing it back. Not an easy job for one person. Thereâs also the financial burden. It costs at least Rs.3000 to get a male dog neutered, and Rs. 7000 for a female in my area. When you do multiple animals in a year, it quickly adds up.
Amid Row, Bigger Supreme Court Bench To Hear Stray Dog Case Today https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/amid-row-bigger-supreme-court-bench-to-hear-stray-dog-case-tomorrow-9078987
3 member Judge panel is sitting today to hear stray dog problem.
Letâs hear what they had to say.
Call me bad or worse but personally I am tired of taking the responsibility and ownership of problems created by others. I would rather protect myself and my family by whatever process which works best . As if there isnât a growing list of issues which we as taxpayers have to own and pay for, that a pet tax becomes another collective responsibility.
You can put a due process and regulations around adopting a human but cannot do so for adopting animals - I mean wtf. This chalta hain attitude is our bane. This country and its people have literally gone to the dogs. And that ends my rant on the eve of our 79th Independence Day. Oh, the sheer irony of being ruled by animals now.
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Send monkeys too along with dogs, They have been a menace for few days now and my patience is running out.
Monkeys from Ameerpet in Hyderabad have bitten my niece once. She was 4 years old then.
There is something like this in the west where they have a dangerous dogs list. You canât abandon etc dogs if they are on that list. Your responsibility becomes much more than if they were just regular dogs
There is a problem with your assumption here.
I know a Thai youtuber who has a couple of dogs himself. Yet when he goes for a pre dawn run he is often confronted by dogs. He uses powerful flashlights to keep them back.
Sometimes in his videos you can see dogs coming just like you said. Even wagging their tails but you canât take a risk. And there are those that have expanded their territory outside their owners homes and will charge at him. Since he is running he does eventually leave the area but Iâm sure heâs been bitten.
Thai dogs I donât expect will be too different to Indian dogs. They have rabies there too.
Too risky. If a dog charges at you there are only few options.
I think animal lovers are that for a reason. Animals are better than humans because they can be saved.
Yes, they are willing to give animals a more than equal say because well theyâre animals and are loyal.
I am guessing the court may give stay or cancel the previous judgment today. Letâs see.
SC wonât cancel their previous orders but might ask the Corporation or ABC to do in a more humane manner.
Hope Supreme court which adopts most useless woke policies from west without realizing local cultural realities will consider this humane option: Aalborg Zoo asks for unwanted pets to feed its predators
LIVE: Supreme Court reserves order on plea to stay directive for rounding up strays and placing them in shelters - The Hindu LIVE: Supreme Court reserves order on plea to stay directive for rounding up strays and placing them in shelters - The Hindu
From the ^ âŚ
â for an organisation named The Conference for Human Rights (India), âŚâ
They shouldâve renamed themselves
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, argued.
âThere is a vocal minority view against a silent majority view,â
Not a fan of the learned SG but, this assertion is more than true.
Middle class?
I thought the protests come mostly from upper range of classes.
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