super bow wow chow

billyshake

Not that the street dogs in my neighborhood were complaining before, but I've taken to really going all out on feeding them. Before it was just leftover rice with some dry dog food mixed in. Now I'm buying one bag of mutton biryani, one can of Pedigree "meat jell-o," a bag of dry dog food, and some leftover bones. I mix it all up in a grocery bag -- smells lovely -- then walk around my little neighborhood like the pied piper. The dogs are quite happy about it. Susan -- "my" dog -- has grown pretty healthy now and he stays at my house every once in awhile. He doesn't mind getting a shower; I think he understands that if he can get through the scrubbing, he gets some meat and a comfy couch for the night. But I doubt he'll learn about the 'no crapping on the floor' rule, his being a road ragamuffin and all.

On a sad note: I wrote a bit about this in another thread recently, but I had to put a little puppy out of its misery on the street the other day. There wasn't any choice. Have you dog lovers had to do this in India? Seems there's always a dog getting run over, but this is the first I've seen get it really bad.

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yikes!
billyshake's whining into the nether blog

PeakXV

On several ocassions I've seen the lower caste kids stoning stray puppies for fun though. I've tried to intervene when/where possible but it seems to be as common as kids plinking tin cans with a beebee gun or having a game of hide & seek when we were growing up ..... more parenting, education needed unfortunately.

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What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

billyshake

Yeah, that's horrible.

delhiwala

Not just kids... I have seen even grownups to kick the stray dogs... this Usually happens when the hitting man is on Bicycle....

I don't know what pleasure these people get out of this....

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Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

Susan B

How did you put it out of its misery ? I don't know what I'd do if I ever come across that, I'd probably just cry and scream why and rush it to the vets to save it, and then pelt stones at the passing cars.

carlaeb

I've noticed that lots of kids (I don't think their caste makes a difference) like to stone dogs. Usually they think of it as playing. It's awful. They run up to my dog on the beach (where, luckily, they do NOT actually have stones) and they raise their arms up in the air and pretend they are going to throw something at her. The problem is that my dog has never been mistreated or met a nasty human, so she thinks they are initiating a game of fetch. She runs up to them, then they stomp at her and try to scare her away. For a few weeks, she was confused. Then she started to think they wanted to play chase, so she'd run around in circles and try to get them to chase her. At this time, I'd intervene and lecture the kids. Nowadays, unfortunately, it has happened enough that she avoids the kids on the beach. This makes me really sad as my dog was super well socialized before I brought her here.

Here's what I do, and I suggest you do it too. Most of the kids are not thinking they are being cruel, and frequently they want to play with dogs and just don't know how. If you have a dog that you KNOW is friendly, you can call the kids over and show them how to pet the dog and be gentle or how to play chase or run with the dog. The kids usually like to do this as it gives them attention, and the dog usually likes it too.

Anyway, aside from that, I just never let my dog out of my sight so that I can quickly intervene in any of this.

As for the adults... gosh I don't know. India is just such a hard place on living things. People and dogs included. I spend a lot of time really bummed out about what I see. Then I go home and hug my dog.

Nick-H

Me too, except substitute cat.

Always assuming they've made it through another day without being killed and eaten. .


I think there is such a tradition of dogs being kept as guard dogs that there is a wide-spread fear of dogs. Tradespeople and delivery people habitually ask, before accepting the invitation to come through the gate, "is there any dog here?".

namaste_cat

That's so true, Nick. Explains why I am still fearful of dogs, which makes it hard to live in a dog-crazy country like America. But at least here people for the most part control their dogs and train them etc. which I appreciate very much. .

There's no excuse for pelting a dog or any animal with stones, and I find if I try and explain to kids why that's really no different from me hitting them, the message sort of gets through. But it's an uphill battle, to be sure. A lot of education needs to happen.

Like you said, cats are treated the absolute worst. People and dogs have it easy compared to the poor cats, and we know life ain't a picnic for a lot of people and dogs in India!

billyshake

I would just sound like a monster if I explained. Suffice to say, it really was the most humane way by far to put an animal down.

I'm just nit-picking here, but technically speaking, Rush Limbaugh is an animal. Should I get the chance, I will pelt him with stones. I ask for your forgiveness ahead of time.

Digital Drifter

Don't insult animals by association; pond scum is more appropriate.

OT: why don't pranksters call him on his radio show and wind him up? I thought that would be the easiest way to rattle the clown.

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Digital Drifter

It's the Telegraph, so you might NOT want to hyperventilate that much

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...uit-Spain.html

Nick-H

You just spoilt my day.

Damnit, no of course you didn't... Shouldn't shoot the messenger. Given the reputation my countrymen like to maintain about their treatment of dogs and other animals, that is really, really sickening.

Back to India...

I used to live across the road from a couple who we came to know as Mr and Mrs Wiff-Woof, as that is what their dog used to say. In fact, he had a most musical bark that went up and down the scale, at the slightest provocation. One of his provocations was the arrival of the various street sellers in the early morning --- just when I wanted to continue sleeping. Drove me crazy.

I can't say that he was tortured*; far from it --- the grandchildren loved him, and he did get a daily short walk, but he had a balcony life, and nothing like the attention and exercise that a dog like that ought to get. So, as well as driving me crazy, I felt sorry for the poor thing too.



*Oh! Thought this was the tortured animal thread.

billyshake

Yup, same thing is happening across the States. They say the shelters are filling up with purebreds these days. As I'm sure most of you would agree, the pure breeds usually aren't too bright and certainly can't make it on the streets.

My friend Matt adopted an English bull dog from a shelter. That's simply not something one hears of in normal times. If I remember right, my friend Ryan paid about $2000 for his a few years back. Dumbest dog I've ever met. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE dumb dogs, but that thing would die the first night if it were put out.

birds

, true enough! The so-called pure dogs tend to be weaklings. The poor things of course can't help it because it are humans that made them so.

Thankfully, the big advantage dogs have over people is that it does not matter if they are dumb or ugly, as long as they sweet.

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Of the estimated 500 million dogs in the world, approximately 75% are strays, of which about 25 million live in India.

AwayFromHome

Trying to introduce some good news, however small, into this thread.

My son, who is exceedingly extrovert, befirended a Vet at a very small Bazaar in Gurgaon. His motive was to get a dog and he talked about Spitzes and Goldens etc.

My son (9 years) has also been very shocked about how many stary puppies there are in India. One thing led to another, and the Vet introduced us to a great young gentleman who spends his spare time and money taking care of strays, and trying to adopt them out.

So late on a Thursday evening, an inpromptu meeting was organized with 'Daisy', a 2 month old pup living in a neighberhood (colony) along with her mother.

Adorable! The coloney kids' favorite.

Desi puppy - nevergoing to be the envy of the status conscious.
We arranged for her to be transferred to a trasining school, where she is learning basic manners, being fed well and is safe from all the dangers that stem from being a stray.

We plan to move into our new flat in the next week or so, and Daisy will join our family of pets - all rescue animals from shelters in the US.

So folks, please do think about adopting a stray. If you need contact information for the splendid young man who devotes his spare time and money to this cause in Gurgaon, please PM me.