In march 2007, two children were mauled by stray dogs in semi rural Bangalore. This unfortunate accident shook the city. The ever prolific media went on a frenzy with write ups by imminent citizens and concerned socialites on the supposed ‘doggy menace’ that the city was experiencing. They glossed up this accident and blamed the authorities. The authorities in turn blamed the NGO’s. What followed was a simple and a civilized solution. A death sentence to all the stray dogs of India’s wannabe “Silicon Valley”.
Soon the city authorities were doing what they claimed to be “for the good of every Bangalorean.”
Cleaning the filthy roads? De congesting traffic? Providing security on roads late at night? Every good government does that. (except this one!) These issues were too trivial for the pro active and benevolent authorities. They instead decided to concentrate all their resources on the problem that was at hand. The incorrigible dogs! Soon heroic dog catchers could be seen zooming in and out the roads. The ‘compassionate’ government officials promised the city that each animal would be treated ‘humanely’ at the time of its death.
So much for sensitivity!
The real picture was that thousand of animals were subjected to death by strangulation, electrocution and crushed skulls with boulders (after bleach thrown in their eyes to make them blind and docile.)
The most insane aspect of this activity was that dogs with collars and snipped ears (a sign indicating that they had been vaccinated and neutered earlier) were caught mercilessly as they were more human friendly. The few actual ferocious dogs were left behind as the Homeric catchers could simply not get hold of them. The victims were then dumped into cages and left there for hours before being transported to the site of their extremely peaceful death.
The rational solution to this situation which any individual with an iota of sense and compassion will see was not eliminating every dog in the city. Instead scientific methods (Animal Birth Control- ABC Programme) could have been used to control the population and keep out the real strays that had been a threat. The problem of wild dogs was not in the urban populous areas around the city but in the peripheral areas where the CNVR (Catch Neuter Vaccinate Release) programme had not been implemented.
What fascinates me at this point is the human behavior in response to the animal behavior. It is indeed heart wrenching that two children lost their lives. But what is more aggrieving is that instead of finding a pragmatic solution to prevent such unfortunate accidents from happening in the future, civilized men played the ‘tit for tat’ game with these animals.
How could anybody irrespective of not being an animal lover support this decision?
It makes me wonder. Today the government goes on a ‘stray dog’ killing rampage because a feral street dog attacks some one. Tomorrow will it go on a ‘stray human’ killing rampage because a feral man on the road attacks someone? Where is the humanity in the contemporary world? Where does the periphery of tolerance end and bigotry (bordering on stupidity) begin?
Educated modernized people living in a metropolitan city KILLED almost an entire population of dogs. And after every election we continue to wonder whether The Congress or The BJP would be better at developing the city!
I do not expect everybody to be a passionate animal lover. I am not asking one to turn into a vegan animal rights activists. All I’m asking is that is it too hard to care about another life? Is it impossible to be aware of animals living in the space around us? Is it too Utopian asking people to be a little tolerant towards other living creatures?
What is most frightening here is that Bangalore was not the only Indian city to experience this. Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai…almost all the Indian metros have at some point or the other in the last decade succumbed to this archaic practice. For the 2010 common wealth games, New Delhi has decided to rid itself of its dog and cattle population. Meetings have been held and intense discussions on the subject are taking place. The Municipal Corporation is looking into the possibility of using the ABC (Animal Birth Control) programme or the CNVR (Catch Neuter Vaccinate Release) programme. What we can only hope is that the civic authorities of Delhi do not undergo a sudden change of heart and implement easier methods like the ones used by their ‘civilized’ Bangalorean counterparts.
Soon the city authorities were doing what they claimed to be “for the good of every Bangalorean.”
Cleaning the filthy roads? De congesting traffic? Providing security on roads late at night? Every good government does that. (except this one!) These issues were too trivial for the pro active and benevolent authorities. They instead decided to concentrate all their resources on the problem that was at hand. The incorrigible dogs! Soon heroic dog catchers could be seen zooming in and out the roads. The ‘compassionate’ government officials promised the city that each animal would be treated ‘humanely’ at the time of its death.
So much for sensitivity!
The real picture was that thousand of animals were subjected to death by strangulation, electrocution and crushed skulls with boulders (after bleach thrown in their eyes to make them blind and docile.)
The most insane aspect of this activity was that dogs with collars and snipped ears (a sign indicating that they had been vaccinated and neutered earlier) were caught mercilessly as they were more human friendly. The few actual ferocious dogs were left behind as the Homeric catchers could simply not get hold of them. The victims were then dumped into cages and left there for hours before being transported to the site of their extremely peaceful death.
The rational solution to this situation which any individual with an iota of sense and compassion will see was not eliminating every dog in the city. Instead scientific methods (Animal Birth Control- ABC Programme) could have been used to control the population and keep out the real strays that had been a threat. The problem of wild dogs was not in the urban populous areas around the city but in the peripheral areas where the CNVR (Catch Neuter Vaccinate Release) programme had not been implemented.
What fascinates me at this point is the human behavior in response to the animal behavior. It is indeed heart wrenching that two children lost their lives. But what is more aggrieving is that instead of finding a pragmatic solution to prevent such unfortunate accidents from happening in the future, civilized men played the ‘tit for tat’ game with these animals.
How could anybody irrespective of not being an animal lover support this decision?
It makes me wonder. Today the government goes on a ‘stray dog’ killing rampage because a feral street dog attacks some one. Tomorrow will it go on a ‘stray human’ killing rampage because a feral man on the road attacks someone? Where is the humanity in the contemporary world? Where does the periphery of tolerance end and bigotry (bordering on stupidity) begin?
Educated modernized people living in a metropolitan city KILLED almost an entire population of dogs. And after every election we continue to wonder whether The Congress or The BJP would be better at developing the city!
I do not expect everybody to be a passionate animal lover. I am not asking one to turn into a vegan animal rights activists. All I’m asking is that is it too hard to care about another life? Is it impossible to be aware of animals living in the space around us? Is it too Utopian asking people to be a little tolerant towards other living creatures?
What is most frightening here is that Bangalore was not the only Indian city to experience this. Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai…almost all the Indian metros have at some point or the other in the last decade succumbed to this archaic practice. For the 2010 common wealth games, New Delhi has decided to rid itself of its dog and cattle population. Meetings have been held and intense discussions on the subject are taking place. The Municipal Corporation is looking into the possibility of using the ABC (Animal Birth Control) programme or the CNVR (Catch Neuter Vaccinate Release) programme. What we can only hope is that the civic authorities of Delhi do not undergo a sudden change of heart and implement easier methods like the ones used by their ‘civilized’ Bangalorean counterparts.
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