Canine v/s Humans: who is in danger

12/06/10

Canine v/s Humans: who is in danger

“Bark, bark, bark, bark………….” The boys who had gathered for early morning game of soccer, suffering from world cup fever, ran helter-skelter to save from dogs, barking and occupying their space. It was struggle for dominance for couple of moments. The boys, recollected, picked a stone each and charged the dogs, to fly far into all corners of the ground of Char Imli, the residential area of the powerful in the capital, Bhopal. The poor dogs, some snarling putting meek opposition before retreating and rest dropping tail between legs, yielded to the human dominance and left the place. However, the eyes of vengeance shined in the dogs. I was wondering who actually owned the space when a dog, galloping breezed by, kissing my legs. I jumped three feet making a bridge for it to pass unbridled. I had found the answer. My sympathy towards the canine was lost with the gush of adrenalin in my body, by this sudden run over, concluded that we were in danger. Even morning walks, a must to diabetics, a prescription for all to keep fit in this competitive world, was at stake due to these ruthless dogs, who cared for none but themselves. We were in danger and something wants to be done to contain the dogs-I felt.

This compelled me to dig into my memories.

First came the recent statement of the Bhopal district administration, which advocated the vasectomy of the dogs, to check the growing population. I doubt if the statement has been transpired into action, yet.

Nevertheless, the flashback that followed put me in a foreign land, Kosovo, a country born from former Yugoslavia. I think what I am about to describe is going to be looked upon by animal lovers as vulgar and criminal act, but in Kosovo it was a normal feature and justified by authorities. Canine Culling in Kosovo was a full fledged operation initiated by the respective municipality in their Area of Responsibility (AOR). Stray dogs were considered as menace and police stations registered religiously all complaints and reports about the threat posed by stray dogs, to the kids in specific and community at large. Intermittently the calls used to pour in at police stations and the record of the cases registered was promptly sent to the municipality for action. There was a department within the municipality, which was responsible for killing those stray dogs and the logistical and expert assistance came from the hunting unit of municipality.

Police had an important role to play at all phases, right from the registration of complaints to implementation stage of killing. Regional police headquarter was given the information from the municipality about their decision, method to be adopted and the time of operation of killing of dogs. Every day in the morning chief of operation’s briefing incorporated precise description of area chosen for operation in the forthcoming days and about the dogs killed in previous night action. Before action, the affected area was informed through newspaper about the killing and police media liaison officer was responsible for proper dissemination of information to the public. All the concerned police stations were intimated about the operation plan and were vested with follow up duties. The reason for police getting involved was to ensure that there was no panic in the area on hearing gun shots in the darkness of night, as the country was strife torn and that the community was prepared mentally for the noise pollution in the mid night. Also it helped the citizens to save their pets by restricting them from loitering on the streets in the night, which otherwise could become an accidental prey of shooters.

One day in the meeting a dog menace complaint was mentioned. The complaint was that, a pet had barked at a passerby and even tried to bite him. To this impromptu came the decision of the regional commander, a German, that the municipality authorities should be directed to kill-shoot- the accused dog. We laughed taking it as joke but he was serious and directed his KPS (Kosovo Police Service) counterpart to take necessary action and report him about the compliance in next day’s morning briefing. He sounded like a judge giving verdict of capital punishment, to a criminal who had committed a crime of attempt to bite. Logic, the dog was a threat to mankind and beyond control of owner hence didn’t deserve to live.

The same time during my stay there, while chatting with my wife, I was told that our six-year-old son was bitten by a dog in India. It was in fact a pet and not a stray dog. Before I had left for Kosovo, he was attacked by a stray dog. We had moaned and got him injected and forgot it as an accident.

I think like today the stray dogs could be seen anywhere and everywhere. Dogs chasing two wheeler and bicycles are common feature and it doesn’t set any alarm ring. Even the statistics of more than 15 million, reported and treated, dog bites every year in our country do not tickle our grey matter. I don’t remember if ever, our ever alert municipality took pains to provide relief from the dogs. Our tolerance power had increased to such heights that we don’t get bothered by these trivial matters. They become part and parcel of our life and we adjust life style accordingly, expecting nothing from any department. The value of mankind is well below that of stray dogs. I think action against dogs may attract lot more flak and criticism from many corners than an attack on human beings or killing by dog. Some time back I had read in a newspaper that stray dogs had taken half the body of a new born baby from a government hospital. Still it is a common scene to find scores of dangerous canines wielding their ferocious teeth just outside maternity ward.

In two weeks action, in Prishtina (capital region), around 600 dogs were killed. On a discussion with some high ranking officer about the dog killing action, they justified it by saying that apart from direct threat of biting, dogs were also the cause of many accidents of fast moving vehicles on highways.

Few weeks back, I had heard Chief Medical Officers of districts complaining that the supply of medicines against dog-bite has run out of stock, due to excess flow of patients.

Now it is a subject of debate for us to ascertain, if it is our apathetic attitude; shirking from responsibility or we are too sensitive towards animals and insensitive towards our own mankind? I don’t recommend canine culling but is it not fare enough to adopt means to check the growing population of dogs, move them from residential area, make hospitals no-entry zone for them and reduce the threat to mankind. Let us not get violent against dogs, but please let us save our children and ourselves. Culling would is not advocated in any sense, but doing nothing is also not appreciated.

Well, all said and done…….. this is one part of the story. I as human being had the space and intelligence to put across my view. Do these pitiful dogs have any forum to complain? I wish I could understand their ‘bark’ as Dr Dolittle. Then objectively I would have discerned who is actually in danger.