It is sad to hear about the plight of a 4 year old killed by stray dogs. Infact, this is the second such incident that has come to light in the past couple of months. Somewhere in mid January, a 9 year old girl was torn apart by stray dogs. While I do respect the sentiments of animal lovers and also agree that many times stray dogs are provoked by humans (in the form of teasing, stone pelting, kicking etc) I must also accept that this is an issue that requires serious thought. If not controlled soon, it might result in similar incidents in future too thus making it a fearful experience run into stray dogs. Although I have never been bitten yeat (I thank God for that), I must admit that I do feel lot of fear when stray dogs follow me for some time. The fear increases if I happen to be carrying food items with me at that time. Here are few things I've heard people say when confronted with dogs following us:
1. Keep walking in the same speed as before. I have been told as well as read somewhere that the faster you walk, the more u arouse the curiosity of the dogs and they are more likely to attack you. While I remember this whenever the stray dogs follow me, my own fear makes me walk faster involuntarily. Though it hasnt resulted in an attack yet, the dogs have also followed me faster when I walked faster with some barking loudly. It resulted in increased fear and tension.
2. I have also been told that it is not wise to look a dog into its eye. I mean when a dog is following you do not turn around and stare at it. It is said that they are more likely to attack you in those circumstances. This is also something I have found very difficult to follow as my natural instict is to turn around once in a while and see how far they are behind me.
3. Most importantly, it is told never to run when they follow you. Once you run they too will run and however fast you are they are highly likely to catch up with you.
I dont know how far the mentioned details are true, but I do hope it helps anyone who may have to run into stray dogs often.
Another point I would like to mention is that many times people grow a dog and also breed it and when it does give birth to puppies, they grow one themselves, give one or may be two to some of their relatives/friends and leave the remaining in the streets (I have seen some of my neighbors do this, probably they initially plan to grow more than one of the young ones but at some point change their minds and just leave them in the streets). The ones that survive go on to become stray dogs. Not only the dogs themselves suffer, they become a menace for the others also.
There is a man near my relative's place who feeds all the stray dogs and these dogs have bitten a few people (no news of anyone killed so far), but the man refuses to take any responsibility for the dogs he owns and when the muncipality tries to take these dogs away, he locks them up in his house and releases them once the dog actching tractor goes away. The dogs continue their mencace and the man also doesnt listen despite objections from the colony/society people. I am of the opinion that people should take responsibilities ofr their actions and cant do things which cause menace to others. While it is appreciated that someone wants to feed the animals and would like to care for them etc. they need to either take up full responsibility for these animals and keep them at their home or in their private property and cant leave them on streets causing trouble to others.
There is another person in our neighborhood who grows a doberman and that dog happened to leave its kennel one day and gained access to another neighbors house and they had some clothes hung in their back yard and this dog promptly chewed up most of them leaving them in tatters. Again the argument given by the master of the dog was why do you guys hang clothes outside when you know that someone grows a dog in your neighborhood!! I mean it is such an irresponsible statement. Just because one person has a flair for pets does not mean others should lose freedom in their own houses. Tomorrow these guys will say dont cook anything which lets out good aroma as it attracts the dog's attention!!!!
While care for animals is appreciated if the same animals threaten peaceful human existence, then those animals must be done away with, not necessariliy by killing them, thy can also be dropped off in an inaccessible place but surely streets are no place for them.
For those who want to argue as to what about those humans who are a menace to the society, when they are allowed to stay why not stray dogs etc., well, that is what law and order is for, it is up to the law department to take up these cases and either reform them or punish them. As far I saw in this message board even those who advocated out right killing of all stray dogs never said that every individual should do it, they were also mentioning that some authorized body like the muncipality do it.
Stray dogs are not only a source of danger but also a source of disease as no one knows what kind of germs they carry with them and how harmful they can be. Now, I request people not to counter question this statement asking what about human beings in streets? Do they not carry diseases? Am I suggesting eradicating them also etc. My answer to that would be, of course that I dont suggest the same remedy for that also, but more importantly in this forum we are talking only about stray dogs and not about stray human beings. If there is a separate message board on how to deal with stray human beings then we can discuss the same in that board.
RE:Sad
by raj arora on Mar 08, 2007 11:26 PM Permalink
Anand you think so much like me,they do not take responsiblities for bites ,but how do we curb this menace ,there are a lot of like minded people here ,I have even given out my e mail id but no one seems to reply.
RE:RE:Sad
by S Anand on Mar 09, 2007 05:57 AM Permalink
Hi raj: As you mentioned, it is up to us like minded people to arrive at a workable solution for this menace. In my opinion the solution itself is a long term process which involves lot of time effort and money from people. I was thinking of some kind of trust or anything ni every locality to actually hire vets and experts to first treat them for any diseases they might have. Then have some kind of pen house where they can all be kept. This need not be an airconditioned building, it could just be an open area where the animals are allowed to roam in freedom. Then have a means to feed them, i. e., something like a dog food store and s group of responsible people to feed them. They also need to be experts in handling different kinds of animals. Once they stabilize, then with propoer licenses for these dogs seel them out for people to adopt them. This is just so that there is some balance in terms of the number of dogs entering and leaving this "common area for desolate dogs". As some others have also pointed out, thses canines get nasty due to the environmental dirt (created by humans) as well as mal treatment in terms of provoking etc. The society spending on taking care of these dogs should also police that no one provokes or torments these animals and anyone found doing so should be taken to task. I would strongly advocate a staunch animal lover for this post. We can take this as a first step to deal with this issue. At the outset it might look ridiculous and utopian. It can even make people wonder is it worth spending som much time effort resources money etc on stray dogs. Well, it is not for stray dogs alone it is also for the beenfit of the people living there. Why I suggested this being done by the money put in in different colonies and not by some organization is that if organizations functionsed efficiently and promptly this problem may have been solved long ago. There is no point in leaving it to them and cribbing that they are not functioning. It is better that for somethings we act instead of waiting for somebody to act. Spending all this time and effort and mony not only helps in reducing the problem it also gives a new scope of life for the stray animals and if adopted by the right people these animals can get a better home as well as it would find support from the animal lovers too. It is also a solution that requires lot of time to get it functioning properly and would involve a lot of learning during the implementation as there might be new issues on the way. It also requires lot of RESPONSIBILITY. I mean we cant set up such an association and next time find a stray dog on the road beat the hell out of them for being careless etc. I mean every person living in the colony should take responsibility to report presence of stray animals if they find one and the society should act promptly in taking them to the common "dog house". Also, in such cases people elect someone else as an administrative seceretary etc for such associations and say they themselves are too busy to do anythying for this and make the seceretary a scape goat and put the entire responsibility on that individual's head to manage things. It must be realised that while somone can hold a post he/she requires co-operation from other members for efficient functioning. Also absurd as this idea might seem, I surely feel it is something we can think about instead of extreme solutions like just saying let the stray dogs remain and let things take a natural course or the other extreme of saying Cull all of them. The solution I proposed here is bound to have loop holes but some beginning has to be made somewhere.
Mad cow desease thousads of cows world wide were culled. Foot and mouth desease again thousands of cows were culled. Now avian flu millions of chicjkens have been slaughterd. Elelphant population increase in wild in south africa they will be brought to a managable number soon. foxes are killed to control the Fox population world wide. Seals are killed to keep the number down and use the pelt. What is wrong with controling the wild population of astray dogs, we indians are life lovers but not to an extent that it becomes a padmick, astry dogs are dirty desease ridden carry rabbies virus and should be brought in control. Even dog excreations carry desease which causes blindness in humans. Control it before it is too late and there are more dogs then humans. Send them to gas chamber now, get rid of the extra population of wild dogs, monkies etc. Ajit Singh Birdi (U.K.)
RE:Astray Dogs
by anirudh on Mar 10, 2007 01:19 AM Permalink
humans have long crossed their optimum population...so cull them??if this cant be done...then your solution is immoral and ridiculous... anirudh
RE:RE:Astray Dogs
by raj arora on Mar 13, 2007 04:24 AM Permalink
let me ask u ,what if a dog had killed some one from ur family ,a child ,wud u still post ur stray forums
RE:RE:RE:Astray Dogs
by anirudh on Mar 15, 2007 01:18 AM Permalink
Listen,I am more than willing to answer personal questions. But it's not my emotion that counts.Personally, I'm nature worshipper.My first thought would be the empathy of the dog that did so.When the scandalous murders happended in south delhi,where the skeletons of the children were found,was the solution to terminate all domestic servants in delhi?I think not.This matter is all the same.12% of all the dogs in bangalore have rabies.So how can you kill them?I have so many friends in the street.They are as close as family to me.I think all life on this planet is precious.Thus I fully concur with the sympathy of the kids that were killed.But 56,000 lives for compensation is beyond my understanding.It's almost as if we are trying to take revenge.It's spitefull.The dogs were nothing but a toe rag for humans all their lives.We used them when needed.(To reduce the garbage,cat pop., etc.),and now we dispose of them because we feel uncomfortable walking on the streets?It seems evil.I agree that measures have to be taken to prevent further such cases.Move them to a safer place, or vaccinate them. Also make the parents more responsible.
There is a guy and his mum who feed dogs in my society ,once one of his dog bit an innocent kid who was riding his cycle ,we took the kid to the doctor who said he would need a tetanus ,when i went and asked the guy to pay for the boys treatment all he said if u so interested why dont u pay ,thats the mentality these so called dog lovers have ,they wanna feed the strays but do not wanna take responsibility for the same dog that bites ,hypocrites.And the irony is when people get fed up of the menace and go and poison the digs they the first to cry out loud .
Guys instead of talking lets start a campaign out here ,we will all send out a signed petition to the BMC demanding action against the stray menace ,I am in Bombay but we can have a representative in all cities,my address is rajarora2007@rediffmail.com.
RE:lets begin
by Aman Sharma on Mar 07, 2007 06:30 AM Permalink
This is a good idea. But there is one problem: animal rights activists often become aggressive and disruptive when they get a whiff that someone is acting against stray dogs. I have known people in Delhi being beaten up by stray dog lovers because they threw the dogs out of their colony for making it impossible for them to sleep. One defence officer was jailed for getting a stray dog thrown out from the vicinity of his house. I myself have had fights with some animal lovers for shooing away stray dogs that defecate right outside our house gate EVERYDAY, for months together. They simply dont care if __our__ health is destroyed. They also send viruses via email - not only to private individuals, but anti-PETA sites also, so that the entire site or email ID accnt is destroyed. This task has to be taken up by a BIG organization - maybe the Human Rights Commission, or W.H.O. or the Supreme Court. Perhaps we can contact them.
RE:RE:lets begin
by raj arora on Mar 07, 2007 07:49 PM Permalink
Hi Aman u r right ,but i have given my id and if we have a big signature campaign in our respective cities ,it will work ,yes they get very vindictive when we try to curb the menace at the same time they do not want to take the digs they claim to love so much home and make it a menace to society ,let me start getting mails and we can all unite to stop this menace.
RE:RE:RE:plz
by anirudh on Mar 15, 2007 10:51 PM Permalink
the streets are the only home left for the dogs. they are in danger of us...humans should be destroyed by a plague...as dinosaurs were by meteors..when they took over and mother earth couldnt sustain any other life..
RE:what?
by anirudh on Mar 15, 2007 10:48 PM Permalink
that's the most factually wrong and repugnant thing you could have said..bad words are not insulting...but things like these are...
THE INCREASE IN STRAY DOGS IN THE CITIES ARE THE CAUSE OF THE ATTACKS THAT ARE FACED BY THE PEOPLE. THE GOVERNMENT IS ACTING AS PER THE NEEDS OF THE FEW ANIMAL LOVERS, WHO ARE TRYING TO PROTECT THE STRAY DOGS. LET THE AUTHORITIES PUT THE STRAY DOGS TO SLEEP. THOSE IN LOVE WITH THESE STRAY DOGS MAY ADOPT THEM THE OTHERS NEEDS TO BE ELIMINATED
RE:Stray dogs needs to be eliminated
by n simha on Mar 06, 2007 06:15 PM Permalink
I think the person writing this is copying the words which are repeated by everyone in urban India (adoption concept). I would rather suggest people(who have been given the ebility to think and understand) to clean up the mess that they have created in the residencial areas and STOP teasing / torturing animals (which don't have thinking and understanding ebilities)
RE:RE:Stray dogs needs to be eliminated
by anirudh on Mar 15, 2007 10:53 PM Permalink
first thing...people like you..who think and talk venom should be eliminated....all life on earth has as much rights to live as any other... you are nobody to take over nature's occupation...
yes a soft heart of FM to live with dogs and lalus paswans comrades finding the resemblence in duplicate behaviour.they cried on BOfors and now support bofors--rediff any abuse pls-lalit
RE:send to Chindabaram lalus comrades
by The Earth on Mar 06, 2007 08:48 PM Permalink
Hey do you know how you are different from Lalu and dogs?he is a human with a brain and you are so dumb that you are not even capable of articulating your own thoughts!!!and dogs are far superior to you as they are rational and not mad like you to write about someone else when the discussion is about something else.
