A Dog’s Life

Terrible news of young children being mauled to death by feral dogs in Bangalore has been filling the news lately. In early January, eight year old Sreedevi died from a dog mauling in Chandra Layout. Two months later, four year old Manjunath did not survive his attack by a pack of 15 wild dogs. After both attacks, increased government action was seen in the removal of stray dogs. An equally vigorous counter campaign was also seen from animal rights groups over the actions of government officials. Something just does not seen right.

Without first-hand witness, it is difficult to appreciate the stray dog situation in Bangalore. In the US dogs are tagged, leashed and pampered. In Bangalore, and generally in India, dogs free-range along with cows and goats.

Some estimates place the number of stray dogs in Bangalore at 60,000. Our casual walks in our colony or along sidewalks in the heavily urbanized center of the city are always accompanied by stray dogs. We suspect there is a significant underestimation.

Back in 2000, government officials of the Bruhut Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) established the Animal Birth Control (ABC) program to humanely deal with the wild dog problem. The ABC program officials have claimed their focus on sterilization and “in extreme cases like rabid dog” euthanasia has been successful. As we listen each evening from our bedroom to the vicious barking of wild dog packs fighting for street territory in our colony, we question the ABC’s definition of “successful.” We are sure the parents of Sreedevi and Manjunath would have the same question.

In this land of vegetarians and Hindu re-birth theology, social responsibility in the treatment of animals has wide appeal. There is also a universal appeal in the caring for creatures without defense. Protests over KFC treatment of chickens in 2005 saw protesters on busy Brigade Road here in Bangalore as well as the support in far away Anchorage, Alaska from a former Playboy bunny.

The clumsy response by the local government officials to the dog attacks fueled the rights campaign. A photo of dog carcasses heaped at a BBMP site and reports of other carcasses being mingled with local waste at landfills brought more distraction to an already confused environment. Most government actions here move in fits and starts. Neglect transforming into overachieving in one step. Nothing really changes.

To understand why so many dogs populate our streets, we return to our self-provided guidance that there must be a social intent to support a way of living. Tagged, leashed and pampered may be bourgeois, but at least our children can walk on the streets or sidewalks and come home safely.

Just as news of dog attacks and animal rights protests faded from the front page, we read just three days ago of seven year old Yashwanth escaping from his encounter with a pack of feral dogs. It appears the social intent of our neighbors is still forming.