A book fair of noise and heat

inam ul rehman

It is a mid-summer afternoon. People are mostly scattered to their workplaces and for labourer class it is lunchtime. Hardworking labourer parents are taking their lunch when their four-year-old child wanders on the street alone. He has taken to this street multiple times along with his parents. The kid believes the street belongs to him. It is safe to move around. Suddenly a stray dog comes in front of him, the innocent child smiles and keeps walking. The dog barks at him again, which startles the child. The kid does not know what to do as the stray dog is joined by a few more dogs. Then one dog pushes this child on the ground. A dog gnaws its teeth in his yet to be developed flesh, the other dog catches his limb and tears away his soft flesh. A few puppies also enter into the frame. The child is screaming but urban noise dwarfs his. The dogs drag him beneath the bonnet of the car. Then we see his body in a hospital bed. Mauled.  

The child was just another number for the city. The dogs were not guilty. No case was filed. No punishment given. The boy’s parents were labourers, and their voice carried no weight. For animal welfare advocates, stray dogs were innocent. The fault lies with careless parenting. For his parents, the world ended. It is a story which we have read, seen, and curtly dismissed because our children are safe.

In 2020, India reported 68 lakh dog bite incidents, remember these are only reported cases, and many people don’t report dog bite incidents (CNN). According to Reuters, India has 5 crore 25 lakh stray dog population. And yet these animal welfare advocates say these canines should not be put into shelters (Indian Express). Even if these dogs are vaccinated, sterilised, will they not attack and bite children? Why are the streets of India flooding with these stray dogs? It is a given fact that municipalities throughout India cannot sterilise every dog as these are underfunded and have many jobs to do. On an average it takes between Rs 1000 to 2500 to sterilise a dog. Now multiply it by 5 crore dogs and the result is beyond all municipalities!

Ever since the Animal Birth Control rules 2001 was enacted, most human population in India has been living in canine terror. Everyday newspapers, social media timeline show gruesome killing of children in broad daylight by these stray dogs, yet they roam scot-free according to this law. But if a human kills a dog, he will face criminal charges. It reminds me of an oft repeated example in journalism schools: if a dog bites a human, it is not news, but a man bites a dog it is news! The ABC rules resulted in unprecedented growth of dogs. 

Therefore, it was one of the greatest reliefs to hear the Supreme Court of India’s direction to relocate all stray dogs to shelters and free the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) from dog menace. The Supreme Court didn’t call for the culling of dogs, as is being twisted by the animal welfare advocates.

Immediately after this verdict came out the animal welfare advocates staged protests against it. For them stray dogs should be allowed to roam on streets irrespective of the number of dog bites. These animal lover advocates live in gated societies where stray dogs are not allowed. One does not doubt their love for these canines.  For dogs, they argue compassion, and “right to roam," even if the dogs maul children. But for a rapist, murderer, or violent human, no one argues to let them roam freely. Rightly so. Why do they plead for mercy when the culprit is a dog, but absent when the victim is a poor man’s child? For them, why are shelters unacceptable for biting dogs but natural for violent humans? Why does the poor parent burying his child get no such mercy?

Advocacy groups love for stray dogs is without any responsibility. Most won’t own them, won’t adopt, won’t collect funds to make shelter for them. Even if their argument of government shelters not being good for these dogs is valid, what stops them from pouring money and help governments in renovating these?

Dog bites cases are not unique to the Delhi-NCR region only.
Here in the Muslim majority region of Kashmir dogs were not part of street culture. But, it is said that when someone used to see bad dreams he would put a rice bowl outside his house, or a Kashmiri bread piece to ward off its evil effects. Those days dogs in Kashmir were sparse and emaciated. This culture has continued in both urban and rural areas, added with the failure of local municipalities to remove garbage dumps, which have created unnatural breeding grounds.

Dog population, according to media reports, in Kashmir is 23 dogs per 1000 people (though not verified). It has resulted in gruesome mauling of children. Sterilisation of dogs in Kashmir is also difficult as 6 months of winter hampers the progress. Most people fear to move out in the early morning and late evenings because of these untamed canines. The large majority of people are uncomfortable with stray dogs, yet because of the romanticism of few we are forced to live in perpetual fear as dog lovers impose street dog protection as policy.

This romanticism is largely a product of urban elite while the majority wants public hygiene and safety over street dog protection. Every dog attack exposes a class divide written in blood: the poor bury their children while the rich decorate their social media timeline with these canines.

Pic courtesy: The Print.