The Dogs Of India

puppydogben

Hi,

I have been back in India for four months now and it is my first time back since 2003. One thing I have noticed that has changed a lot is the sheer number of dogs roaming around. I know that there has always been a sizeable canine population here but there just seems to be so damn many now. I went to Goa for a short holiday and Palolem at night was infested and seemed to me to be an almost no go area, I regularly saw people on their own being followed/ chased on the beach where I think the restaurants feed certain dogs thus making them very territorial. I have also noticed this in other areas such as Varkala, Paharganj, and parts of Rajasthan, not so much the chasing, stalking but just the damn barking all night seems to have replaced the hindi singing and the mosques prayers. Does anyone else have any stories about dogs or what possible solution there could be to it?

BabyBlue

They need to start neutering them all! Not going to happen though. I had a pretty scary experience with a pack of at least 10 dogs one night in Palolem where I was surrounded by them barking & growling & edging in at me so I know just what you mean.

puppydogben

Well, yes, that is what should happen, but who on earth is going to do it? Unless it does happen, it's surely only going to get worse. I'm sure I heard of an english guy being killed by rabies in Goa last year

lotus blossom

as india grows in industrialization and modernization, so too does the pUpulation of dogs. it really saddens, sickens me to see the way that the dogs are treated. i saw a guy kicking a sickly street dog the other day - grrrrrr and then saw a cycle rickshaw run over the paw of a sleeping dog. it's as if they do not matter. obviously not as evidenced how they are treated.

i feel bad for many of the people here, but my heart positively bleeds for the animals.

i was talking to an indian guy that i met here in delhi about a neuter program. he said that the government has one already...really?

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Not all who wander are lost

crvlvr

I don't know if it is better to let these dogs live their life, or kill them (in the millions for the US) like we do in many western countries. http://www.sniksnak.com/overpopulation.html

ranjan154

I use to live in the contonment area in my childhood and there use to be dog firing squad which use to kill any street dog, i remember once they killed our pet dog unfortunately and i cried a lot..

Anyways, the solution is like, one needs to complain this to the municipal corporation, and i am sure they have dog squad, they catch them and i dont know exactly what they do after that.. But surely one will get rid of these..

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Rakesh Ranjan
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/travinfoindia/

Nick-H

There is a neutering program. Apparently they make in notch in one of the ears to show it has been done.

Is it better to have a life or kill them? Well, how we would we feel if some one made the wrong decision about us?

The Chennai dogs, at least in this area, seem to do all right. Often they adopt a nightwatchman or security guard. I seldom see one looking ragged or sick --- but, of course, injury and illness does happen. I used to know a girl who went around giving them food and vitamins, there are charity people who do this.

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Noodle

Yes, the Blue Cross has a neutering program. Check this out

http://www.bluecross.org.in/help.html

On that page they list all the ways one can help, and what they do, incl a neutering program, and btw the contact address in is Chennai, Nick!

But I know they do it here, Pune, too. The dogs that are neutered have a triangle shaped scar on one of their back legs. Because of their efforts the number of street dogs thankfully has dropped in the past years. The ones that are here now are established middle-aged dogs that have their places where they go and eat, people pay for vaccinations, feed them etc.

I myself actively support the Jeev Raksha Animal Welfare Trust, which takes care mainly of sick and injured street dogs, but also cats, cows, buffalos, birds etc etc. They neuter and vaccinate every animal they get in.

I posted a thread about it here on IM Animals and Shelters

To die of rabies is nowadays not neccessary anymore, the vaccine is readily available. I was once bitten by a bat. I called my doctor and he said to come right in and gave me the shot.

Yes, Travinfoindia, the municipal corporation has a dog squad, and I know what they do: strichnine! Have you ever seen a dog die from strichnine poisoning? Well, I have and it's heartbreaking and horrible. Once, years ago, they came in the night into this area and killed dozens of dogs. Some pet dogs were also killed when they found some of the poisoned meat. My favourite street dog was poisoned but thank God the tailor called and I got the vet and had that dog in my home on a drip the whole night. She pulled through. Roni is her name. I treat her for her recurrent skin infection and vaccinate her, as well as her friend, Bobby.

After that many people from this area as well as vets filed an official complaint and they haven't poisoned any dogs since.

Oh, and puppydogben, they bark at night because that's their way of praying I got used to it.

I love dogs

cyberhippie

Most of the dogs HAVE been neutered in Palolem, however it will take a few years for the results to filter through!!

goangoangone

There is a neutering programme here, totally ineffective, but the locals know about it and dump their unwanted dogs on the beach knowing they'll be looked after.

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GoanGoan......here

anilkhare

Yeah dogs do bark..they do move around in packs at night.. but that is the way animals behave..

WE do forget that if we live in harmony with animals we can create a better and fruitful lives for all of us..

It is how u act& react to the environment that U stand to gain or lose..

EVEN I sometimes walk about 100 meters late after getting off the cab in the night towards my home and there were a pack of dogs who would growl and bark seeing a lone figure(me).. I instead of fretting called them by whistling..they slowly toned down their voice and came to me wagging their tale and let me pat them.

They dont bark any more when they see me..its how u want to see the true wonder of natures affection unfolding in front of u.

Noodle

So true, anil, so true! Thank you for speaking so kindly of the dogs

anilkhare

I really appreciate your supporting our view... but this every expanding inhabitation of humans is predating on to the lives of animals in such a manner that animals have no place to live naturally..

Like today it has been reported that in a town in ASSAM that a heard of ELEPHANTS strolled in from the jungles bringin the traffic and life to a standstill, curfew was imposed and electricity was cut off to prevent the elephants from being electrocuted. They didnot damage anything but just went around town in a pack.

This is the consequence of un regulated housing and capturing of land for agricultural purposes...imposing a threat to the lives of these animals.

We never bat a eyelid as more an more complexes keep coming up..just forget the consequences of this in future... we have had leopard attacks in bombay in areas which are invading in to the national park.

I wish we just take a human approach to animals invading our territories

soma

do indians in india keep their dogs in the house?

the reason i ask is that i know in trinidad indians ( esp hindus) rarely keep their dogs inside the house. its seen as very unclean.( my mom ,as schoolgirl in trinidad, was horrified to learn that in north america people allow their dogs inside and to lick them!)

i recall my granmother in trinidad always had dogs; but, not in the sense that they were her pets. she sorta just fed a particular dog that hung around the outside of the house but ran with other dogs in the night. maybe its the same sort of thing in india? maybe what look like strays to us are infact someone's pet.

rangss

Hindu superstition: a dog is considered as a messenger of death (Yama)!

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...and I took the road less travelled.