No mechanism to check stray dogs’ menace?
   Date :12-Jun-2022

dogs menace
 
 
By Kartik Lokhande :
 
December 2021 -- A 51-year-old bike-borne man sustains major injuries and dies in a freak mishap in Dhantoli, Nagpur. He met with a mishap as he panicked because three aggressive stray dogs chased him.
 
December 2021 -- A middle-aged woman met with an accident as she started running in a state of panic because she was being chased by a pack of aggressive stray dogs in Dhantoli. She sustained major injuries.
 
January 2022 -- A four-year-old girl succumbed to injuries she sustained in attack by stray dogs at Bharkas village near Butibori.
 
February 2022 -- A 12-year-old boy sitting in a garden in Naik Layout near Viveka Hospital, Nagpur, sustained bite injuries when three stray dogs attacked him.
 
June 11, 2022 -- A pack of stray canines maul a five-year-old boy to death in Katol area. These are just a few of the latest incidents, out of many that keep happening day in and day out not only in Nagpur city but also in rural areas of the district. Unfortunately, there appears to be a skewed public discourse on this issue. Sadly, the local authorities in respective areas do not seem to be having any mechanism to deal with stray dogs’ menace. Often, animal lovers carry cooked food or biscuits in their vehicles and move around the city feeding the stray dogs. As the spots and timings are almost fixed, the stray dogs gather at these spots and at appointed time. Though the animal lovers do it out of compassion, many experts feel that dogs, even if stray, need special dog food. Food cooked for humans or biscuits made for humans actually disturb digestion of the canines.
 
Once, the stray dogs’ digestion gets disturbed, they tend to go berserk. In such a situation, even if one stray dog becomes feral, it can affect others in the pack. Further, mushrooming of unauthorised meat shops in various parts of the city and district, and unsafe disposal of meat waste by them, attracts packs of stray dogs. The problem is worsened by inaction of local authorities in catching the stray dogs to ensure safety of humans in various localities. The local authorities do claim to conduct sterilisation drive for stray dogs, but it remains largely ‘invisible’ as far as effect is concerned. Of course, when one asks local authorities about the inaction, they wish to remain unnamed and express helplessness because of hyper-activism by animal lovers.
 
“Because of threats of lodging complaints under law, even our staff is reluctant in catching stray dogs or conducting sterilisation drive,” said an official on the condition of anonymity. Interestingly, years ago, when the stray dogs’ issue had dominated public discourse, the courts had taken cognisance of it and had passed some orders. The court had even asked the animal lovers to adopt the stray animals and ensure their vaccination etc. Unfortunately, with time, it appears that the effect of court directions has diluted to a great extent. As a result, one comes across as good as absence of mechanism to deal with the menace of stray dogs. In some cases, pack of stray dogs has mauled the children. In some others, fatal accidents have occured because of stray dogs. Besides, there are many incidents that go unreported. These involve children, youngsters, women, senior citizens who cannot outrun chasing dogs. They go to hospitals and get themselves treated for dog-bite, and the story ends there.
 
Not everyone lodges complaint with the authorities. But, everyone of them loses sympathy for those pursuing the cause of welfare of stray dogs. Some of them even develop extreme ideas, and then one sees incidents of some person killing a stray dog or a puppy. After such incidents, animal lovers take to social media and create a lot of noise against that person. Surprisingly, and sadly, they choose to remain silent when some human loses life in attack by stray dogs. Such selective outrage and silence shapes the public discourse into a skewed manner, which does not help either humans or the stray dogs. For, the cycle of extreme views keeps running. In such a situation, balanced approach is needed in which the local authorities are held accountable, if required, through court’s intervention once again, in taking regular action -- of catching stray dogs and of effective sterilisation.