Doggie Woes
OPINION | October 27, 2007 | Share
Most people we come across in our daily lives generally seem to like their pets. In fact most of my friends (those lucky enough to have pets of course) leave no stone unturned to provide every possible comfort for it – including the expensive, ‘nutritious’ diet, regular visits to the ‘Pet parlour’ (for the pedicure and haircut), funky accessories like ‘doggles’, coats, doggie-teddies etc. Some even like to sleep with their pet curled into a fur ball, at their feet.
It makes me wonder as to why do the same people who lavish their utmost attention on their ‘Labs’ and ‘Lhasas’ display a niggardly attitude when it comes to street dogs? Is it because they come without the exorbitant price tags that people proudly flaunt in their hybrid pugs? Or is it because that they are so commonplace that their existence becomes negligible in our eyes? The other day when I lifted a cuddly brown pup in my arms, to play with, my friends disgustedly exclaimed, “Eeew! That thing is filthy!” Filthy? But so is the food that most of us devour in the college canteens and so is basically everything else that is handled by bare hands. Since when have we Indians been so conscious about matters of hygiene? We don’t have second thoughts about shaking hands with people or even eating bhelpuri prepared by unclean hands. Then why this disparaging approach towards stray animals? This coldness, on the brink of animosity is not hard to find. Nothing seems to give more pleasure to young boys than to pelt stones at some harmless looking dog, or a scared kitten. Presidents of ‘Residents Welfare Associations’, so hesitant when it comes to complaining about erratic supply of water and electricity, lose no time in rustling up lengthy letters to the editor about the nuisance stray dogs are becoming. The MCD is quicker to pick up stray dogs than to clean up days of garbage rotting in street corners. One stray incident of a dog attacking someone in the vicinity, and the whole neighbourhood wants ‘immediate action’ to get rid of the “dog menace.”
Maneka Gandhi, in an article once appealed to the readers looking for pets, to adopt street dogs instead of going for any hybrid variety, “bred like a pumpkin or a tomato, for our pleasure.” A friend immediately acted on this advice, and picked up an injured mongrel on her way back from Shimla. Now, Wuffy (short for Waffadar) is her most loyal companion. Not only does he fetch the morning newspaper for my friend, he also keeps watch over the remote to see no one changes channels when she is not around!
Both my friend and I completely second the argument put forward by Mrs Gandhi – that the best way to get rid of stray dogs is by adopting them. And I appeal to every self-claimed “dog-lover” to do the same!!
Mitia Nath
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
Related Views
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
Hey, canteen food or shaking hands with a stranger has much lesser chances of giving me an infection than does playing with a mongrel that probably descended into the nearest sewer some time ago. Mongrels are fun to have and are definitely as good as any pure breed dog when it comes to general fun. But, I’d rather have a large mean rottweiler as a guard dog than any mongrel. Its a no brainer. As for maneka gandhi, how many mongrels does she have?
She’s not exactly known for putting her money where her mouth is, so I’d be careful about quoting her.
Urm? I am probably dumber than the normal audience of such an article, but why can’t mongrels make good gaurd dogs, fine your average “large mean rotweiller” with one of the largest jaws in the canine world would probably chomp its way through most thieves. But gaurd dogs aren’t solely about muscle power and bite force, it’s quite commonly known that mongrels are as smart as they get and of course…lets not even talk about how ferociously loyal these critters are.
Brilliant article, you could have maybe talked a bit about jeevashrams and mongrels supposedly being exterminated in delhi..but brilliant nonetheless.
When we picked up Linus he was filthy with fleas, ticks, and had a stomach virus. We cleaned him up and got him the proper medical attention and now he’s an absolutely wonderful addition to our family.