Street Dogs and our CONSCIENCE

In the aftermath of a school child recently bitten by a street dog , attitudes and opinions on how we should deal with these canines have become divided as never before. The hardliners now have a case to justify their demand to kill these unwanted flea-infested animals who seem quite a nuisance on streets and colonies.

Interestingly, no matter how much we humans hate these creatures, they seem to love us; they live near human habitations and refuse to go and live by themselves in jungles, they wag their tails in gratitude for the rest of their lives if you have thrown a slice of bread at them even once, and their loyalty to humans can put ministers to shame!

As the story in Mahabharata goes, when Yudhisthir in his pursuit of truth, withdrew his emotional ties from all his relatives and earthly possessions, and was resolutely marching up the Himalayas towards Heaven, a stray dog started accompanying him on the rough path. By what we can imagine from Yudhisthir’s nature it is unlikely that he cuddled or petted the animal, but may have shared his food at times. After the hectic journey, when he reached the gates of Heaven he was so moved by the dog’s loyalty and companionship that he demanded the canine be admitted too, a proposal that Gods found preposterous.  It was then realized that the dog was God in guise, who was testing Yudhisthir’s capability to reciprocate the canine’s loyalty. I wonder how we would have fared in this test!

At the Sanjay Gandhi Institute residential campus we have had our share of problems too. A dog count showed we had 80 canines, withthe number growing rapidly as new litters of pups were added several times a year. No matter how cute the pups looked they wailed and remained un-cared on the streets. Our children painfully witnessed many die.

While we were wondering how to balance practicality with conscience we met a street-dog lover called Reema Singh who showed us the way. Why not take the female dogs to a good hospital, feed, vaccinate and sterilize them, and leave them where they belonged?

Our collaboration started 8 months ago with Dr Prerna and Mr Om Prakash from SGPGI and Dr Manish Tiwari from Animal Ashram. The initial concern of soulful campus dwellers were soon assuaged when they saw the same familiar dogs returning back after 2 weeks and in healthier forms! Our director, Prof RK Sharma and his kind hearted wife Dr Kumudini, led from the front, and now have seven loyal canine guards apart from their khaki clad security outside their gates.  This was a success story for our campus.

We have much to learn from street dogs. Apart from loyalty and gratitude, they test our tolerance and empathy. They inculcate feelings of compassion and care in us and our children and remind us that unpleasant problems in life cannot be solved by merely removing them from sight. And they help reveal a person’s nature. Watch that boy who throws a stone or kicks a sleeping dog. The chances are that he will get into crime when he grows up.

Tail piece:  Who loves you more – your wife or your dog? Lock them by turn up in a room for an hour and then release them. The dog will come out wagging its tail in gratitude? And wife?

 As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 19 september 2010.