It was late in the night when my cousin and I got off the bus near Hosur Ring Road in Bangalore. We then proceeded to walk into HSR Layout to our aunt’s house. The deeper we walked, the quieter it got. Soon it was pitch dark and the straight road to our aunt’s house was lit with just one streetlight at the far end.
Suddenly we heard frenzied grunts, barks and then full - fledged attack sounds of dogs. Then it was quiet again and we knew there were some angry stray dogs on the prowl.
All I could think of was encountering one of these packs and the next day’s news headline reading “20 – year - old girl mauledas brother looks on helplessly.” I’m not mean. I just assumed that since my cousin was walking faster and ahead of me, the dogs would attack her first and moreover they would pick the smaller human.
The truth is, the area has numerous packs of strays. What makes it even more dangerous is the high density of dog packs in such a small area. So the strays in this area are very aggressive.
Funnily enough, as much as I feared what the pack of dogs would do to us, I was more worried what would happen to my family once the over-aggressive media starts covering my fatal story. My family would curse me for dying a “news - worthy” death. So immediately, it was time to pray.
Fear is usually cushioned by believing in a God or can be fought down with intellect and courage. In my case, like most cases of “by – birth – indoctrination”, the first trigger was “run to God”. Soon I started reciting all the little religious prayers from all the three major religions in our country. Then I tried the few lines I had heard from a Christian friend: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For you are with me.” Just when I thought I was getting some courage, the other version performed by a famous rap singer jumped in: “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and I realised there’s not much left…” Now I was more distracted by the contradicting verses in my mind instead of dealing with the impending face - off.
Finally I took our security into my own hands. I started picking up stones and my cousin turned to see why I was a step behind her and so quiet. She was startled to see a petrified grown man with a handful of stones and a cowardly smile. Before she could ask, I answered: “I am afraid of being attacked by strays,” and added, “You too should pick up some stones. I don't think this is enough to defend both of us.” She turned back and continued to walk.
Soon three dogs appeared under the orange sodium vapour lamp. One looked angry, mangy and kept staring at me, and then the other two started doing the same. Two more joined and they all started to snarl while looking at me. Immediately, I presumed the snarling was in response to the stones in my hand. I was sure they knew from repeated human abuse, what the stones were meant for.
I dropped the stones and walked beside my brave cousin. We soon passed them and their pack of around six with no incident; they watched us walk past them, their eyes followed us as keenly as an alert soldier’s. We reached home a few minutes later safe and sound. The next day, everybody made growling noises and snarling faces every time I passed by. People tend to confuse caution for cowardice. I take solace in being safe than sorry.
Truth is, stray dogs can be dangerous. The mauling will continue; last week there was one in Bangalore. And as much as we hate the increasing number of strays, our attitude towards the strays and our sense of community hygiene needs a rethink. In India, we tend to be very callous when it comes to public hygiene. As long as we throw garbage in public spaces, as long as the Corporation does not have closed garbage bins and timely garbage clearance, strays will be on the rise. To add, our climatic conditions are not very harsh either so they have no problem of food, territory, weather or a mate. Of course, they will thrive.
We expect quick solutions for every problem. But we have to realise “we are the real problem”. The first step towards a stray dog - free city is the city administration and its citizens developing a sense of public hygiene, besides having an effective sterilization and vaccination programme. Also many times, it is the irresponsible or over - enthusiastic pet owners who buy puppies and later realise that they cannot afford to maintain them or don’t like them all grown up. These are the same people who secretly smuggle their pets into far - out residential areas and leave them there. It is reported that a pair of dogs can multiply up to 300 in three years. So yes, we will have strays, and lots of them.
Before the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, almost 50 per cent of the dogs were caught and moved to locations outside the city where they were neutered. Now that the city looks a little less crowded, the administration does not want them back. But one of the rules in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act states that after sterilization, the animals must be returned to the area where they were picked up from and now, this has become a “bone” of contention between the Delhi Administration and animal activists.
One of the main reasons why it is said that dogs should be moved back to the areas where they were taken from after sterilisation, is to maintain the ecological balance that had pre - existed there. The dogs consume rodents and other smaller animals that could become a large - scale menace. When the dogs are taken away without also clearing away rodents and smaller animals’ food source — garbage — then we will have to deal with a new kind of infestation as there will be no predator to prey on these creatures. The same goes if we clear all the garbage and leave the dogs.
In Mysore, according to People For Animals (PFA), there are 20,000 strays and 13,500 of them have been neutered! But how long can this programme carry on considering that the government has paid the PFA just Rs. 2 lakh when the bill amount is Rs. 67,50,000? May be the government needs to hire more agencies so there can actually be a significant reduction.
India has the highest number of cases of rabies — nearly 70 % of all the cases in the world are in India. While sterilisation and vaccination are the right methods, may be we will have to start a short-burst of culling to bring stray dog menace to a level from where sterilisation and vaccination will actually begin to work.
Let us face it. Strays are here to stay. Even developed countries like the United States and England are only now able to handle stray dog population effectively. In India, there are too many people and even more people with zero public hygiene which means stray dogs will keep us company for a very very long time to come and it is only logical that we learn to adapt to their presence.
The dogs have already successfully adapted to our urban life style, a fact well - established going by reports that in Moscow the strays have learnt to use the subway system! Yes, the stray dogs know how to use trains. It is said they know which station to get off based on the smells at each stop, the announcements on loud speaker and also time duration! In Romania, it is said that dogs know that if they cross the zebra crossing with humans, a car will not hit them. May be pretty soon with all the modern buildings coming up in Bangalore with fancy escalators and elevators, we might see strays taking the escalator to enjoy the spoils at UB City's food courts and they are sure to take their urban adventure to a new level once the Metro comes.
