“A four-year-old kid mauled to death by a group of stray dogs”. Doesn’t it sound terrible, or boils your blood?
Fortunately, or unfortunately, none of us could ever imagine the excruciating
pain and soul-wrenching horror that kid must have gone through, during those
few formidable minutes. Still, not many media houses cover such frighteningly
serious stories, neither local administration pay much heed, nor the civil
society strongly opposes; in fact, if someone dares to say anything harsh about
these stray, four-legged monsters, that too for having all legitimate reasons,
gets insulted and lessoned by the so-called animal-lovers, the not so
sense-making & common-people-friendly stray-animal NGOs, and even thousands of mere virtue signallers.
Let me clear it in the very
beginning in an explicit manner, and being absolutely fearless of the
stray dog lovers – ‘I don’t love them. In fact, after getting to know about
such horrendous incidents, I fuc*in hate’! This certainly doesn’t mean that
I’ll hurl stones at them without reason, or hurt them in any way unless getting
first provoked. I would also accept that though I am not a huge dog-lover, I do
find all the puppies, and even the adults of some breeds - cute. I do love to
play with them as well, as long as they make me feel safe. But, most stray dogs neither are cute, nor look harmless.
Why do only a few media houses find the ‘stray dog menace’ a matter of grave concern, that too for hardly a day or two
post the tragedy? Why has the local administration been careless about
such potential threat to human life? One pertinent reason might be the structure
of both the media, and the local administration in India is hollow to a large
extent, with many functional loopholes. There indeed are some that perform their
duties amazingly well, try their best to make the use of resources available,
and do everything honestly in their capacities for the public good at large.
But unfortunately, that doesn’t do, or is too minute an effort, to not just
find a solution to this stray-dog menace, but to any social, political, economic, or environmental issue.
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| Photo by Anoir Chafik on Unsplash |
Stray dogs need to be taken care of, only on the condition of them not going rogue, and taking advantage of anyone’s limitations. I know, the latter seems implausible. Being a poor voiceless creature (that many a time become a bloo*y killer), they can’t make a promise so. Now’s high time that we should all accept - ‘dogs may be praised all around the globe for their unparallel & unconditional loyalty towards their masters. But unfortunately, not all of them deserve so’. We all have been well aware of the horrific accidents of dogs attacking, or sometimes even killing their own masters. Not to mention their loyalty going abysmally low with anyone other than their owners. If that’s the case with pet dogs, how come we even imagine and confide in the stray? Time’s now ripe to quickly find a reliable solution for this problem, before any other innocent loses his/her life to some of these nasty, wild, and emotionless stray dogs.
In the most probable scenario, they can’t be taught or trained (neither one should try, or else, be ready to face the pungent repercussions for their sweet gestures). So, instead of expecting them to treat us well, we will have to change our attitude towards them. People, especially the kids, should be taught to practice extra care, lessons on the basic behavior of a dog regarding ‘how to deal with them, and how not’ should be disseminated among masses by the experts, and last but certainly not the least – keeping the principle of ‘prevention is better than cure’ in mind, stray dogs shouldn’t be allowed to breed around us at the first place. They may look harmless or cute in the beginning, but there are good possibilities that they will expose their ugly face someday or another. Let me give you an analogy. It’s easy to avert a murder if one is aware that he/she may get murdered by a specific person. The same goes for stray dogs. We should sensitize people (especially kids) regarding the possible dangers of going easy on them. One should always be extra cautious.
The onus actually lies on the local administration to deal with this issue. But, as we have given up on them, we have now become compelled to save ourselves on our own from these freely-roaming killers around us. We know that snakes are dangerous for our lives, and that’s the reason they frighten the hell out of us. Unfortunately, due to the responsibles’ lethargic efforts in curbing this menace, stray dogs also have become a kind of snake for many. Keeping the severe gravity of the problem in mind, the central as well as the state governments should come up with strict guidelines, and necessary directions for the local administration as soon as possible. Recently some developments have been made in the area, and they are all welcome. But, much more needs to be done.
PS: the pet dog owners who take their dogs out in public without tying them with a leash should be fined and reminded of the rules just like the UK’s PM. “My Tommy (not dog) don’t bite; That’s great! Still, you are bound to keep your dog (not Tommy) tied in public.”
PSS: Dangerous dog breeds like Rottweiler and Pitbull must not be allowed to be casually pet by anyone. There should be a whole set of strict rules & regulations regarding their domestication.