Dogs in India
Encountering street pets around the world can be confronting. We often want to help but don’t know what to do. Here Deepak Sharma of India Pups tells Pet Problems Solved all about the dogs of India – the good, the bad and the ugly!
Dogs in India – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Teams of nurses and even foreign vets stand by, offering state-of-the-art healthcare to a lucky few pets whose owners can afford it. In a country where millions survive on less than $2 a day – Acupuncture, blood filtration, kidney cleanses are available for dogs in India.
There are dogs who often live better than most of India’s human children. Roam around in major Indian cities and you will find 24-Hour pet hospitals, dog spas and an abundance of dog supplies. You are left wondering, that if spread out evenly, what could this massive imbalance of funds do for all the rabid, diseased, or simply homeless strays in the country?
The pampered pet dogs are but a small minority. And even within this small segment of dogs who find a home – mistreatment is rampant. Plenty of regions have a culture where dog fighting is considered a sign of toughness, where a beaten dog is a liability to be put down. There are others who find nothing wrong in chaining up a dog all day, feeding it scraps and neglecting all health problems. Dogs who become too much of a hassle are left on road to fend for themselves.
To put it mildly, in a country where human rights is a relatively new concept – animal rights is tragically a laughing matter. This is true for both pets and stray dogs. However, we will focus on the plight of stray dogs in this article, for this is where the situation is even more grave.
Rules: Absent, confused, and never enforced.
Every major country in the world maintains different rules regulating domestic pets.
Take the United States – though millions of domesticated animals are ‘humanely’, painlessly ‘put to sleep’ annually, strict animal abuse and cruelty laws are maintained with harsh punishments for violators. Cases of animal torture seldom make the news, and perpetrators are labelled mentally disturbed when they do.
Other countries maintain animal shelters, offering millions of homeless dogs a last chance at adoption before they are put down. Sometimes stray dogs are even lucky enough to land themselves in strict ‘no kill’ shelters, but most don’t. (One would wonder why large-scale breeding continues unchecked while so many completely healthy and perfectly socialized animals are put down simply because there is no room for them, but such is the nature of human greed).
This is not the case in India. Definition of animal care laws and their implementation is the first hurdle where India falls woefully short.
India is estimated to house over 30 million stray dogs, and the number is growing. In this case, ‘stray’ doesn’t mean homeless, sheltered dogs. Stray dogs represent (often feral) animals allowed to roam the streets freely. Outrageously inhumane acts of violence (a painful example) and torture are considered commonplace in many areas, people often encouraged to eliminate the stray ‘pest’ who has become a nuisance.
Though animal cruelty and torture is illegal throughout the country, the penalties that most violators face are ridiculously low. According to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, transport of any animal in any manner that may cause unnecessary suffering is punishable by up to INR 100 and/or up to three months in jail. This may seem harsh to some until you consider that not only is INR 100 the equivalent of $1.54 in US currency. And even this petty amount will likely go in the policeman’s pocket. Rampant corruption makes sure that such cases are never registered, let alone the culprit being punished.
Similarly, A 2001 law forbade the killing of dogs in India, leading to a massive buildup in stray dogs countrywide. The law is mostly on paper though, because local municipalities give out tenders to contractors to catch & release stray dogs in other locations. The contractors find it easier to simply kill the dogs and the authorities turn a blind eye. Their only concern is to make some money out of the whole exercise.
In several areas, vigilantes are being encouraged to ‘eliminate’ these unfortunate pests by the hundreds, despite the laughable punishment they may face. It isn’t at all uncommon to see mobs beating animals to death in some areas. Suffice to say, animal torture and abuse is far more common than any dog lover would want to believe.
According to the New York Times, no country on earth has as many stray dogs as India.
The apathy/ ignorance continues in government as well: A member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly proposed in June 2012 sending strays to China — where dogs are sometimes eaten — after more than 15,000 people in the state reported being bitten last year (HARRIS, GARDINER) .
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The other side of the coin: Many stray dogs are violent
Dog attacks are common in many parts of India. Children and adults both are getting bitten, or worse, regularly. Every few weeks or so, there are tragic reports of stray dogs mauling babies. In most cases, these are either homeless families whose children sleep on the road or daily wage labourers whose children often roam around while they work.
Further, the country’s overall lack of advanced medicine and healthcare has allowed Rabies, both one of the deadliest viruses known to man and rarely seen in many of the more developed areas of the world, to become rampant. Indian citizens have a very real reason to fear for their lives if bitten by one of the country’s countless strays.
- India accounts for an estimated 35% of all worldwide Rabies deaths, more than any other country.
- According to BBC, more than 20 million people die each year from Rabies.
Rabies, although 100% lethal if untreated, is a curable condition if treated in time. The problem here is that in poorer areas, it very rarely is treated in time, if at all. There are still quacks in villages who recommend remedies such as rubbing red chilli powder on the bitten area to get rid of rabies. (Unfortunately, this is not a joke)
Apart from the extreme cases, stray dogs often snap and lunge at road walkers and eventually the face of innocence is viewed as the face of evil by the residents.
A few weeks back, I remember sitting in an Uber where the driver was purposefully trying to hit stray dogs with his car. The man had been reasonably well mannered till then and when I stopped him from doing this, he simply explained that “some stray dogs in some other locality had snapped at him while he was helping an elderly passenger out of his cab”. There is no logic here but the annoyance was very apparent. For people struggling to earn their daily bread, every small irritation leads to immense anger. Anger that comes out as violence towards stray dogs.
Who is Responsible?
We, as dog lovers, often (indignantly) ask whether it is the strays that are always responsible for this violence?
How can we blame an animal who is trying to survive according to its instinct? These dogs react to their environment, exactly how they are biologically designed to do. Is any of this really their fault?
But in India, the actual situation is complex. Regular people are always wary of a violent street dog. There are so many dogs on the street that inevitably you will encounter an aggressive one! People view stray dogs as enemies and a danger. This often leads to them taunting these dogs, poisoning them, and even torturing them, giving the dogs more reason to react aggressively. And the vicious cycle continues.
As with most problems in India, this too comes down to two broad evils: 1) Corruption and 2) Illiteracy. Both are being eradicated, but far too slowly.
The government officials don’t care enough to establish a well-funded network of animal shelters, breeding control, or health care. When the policies are made, the only aim is to take as much money as possible in their pockets. The nexus of lawmakers, contractors and police continues as strong as ever. And stray dogs live their life in continuous terror of violence, noisy traffic and pollution – sometimes repaying back with aggression.
Is there any hope?
Yes, animal care organizations are sprouting up in major cities. Slowly but surely, people are understanding animal rights. Many acts of animal torture are taken up in the traditional and social media – and cases are filed. While I don’t recall any culprit ever being punished, when people start taking a stand, that day is also not far away. There is a long way to go, millions of stray dogs need a better plan to live a peaceful & playful life.
The first steps have already been taken. And I am very hopeful of bigger changes in the future.
Sources Cited
Do India’s stray dogs kill more people than terror attacks? BBC News
Where Streets Are Thronged With Strays Baring Fangs. New York Times
About the author:
Deepak Sharma is the founder of IndiaPups.com – a wholesome place for loving and caring for our dogs. At heart, he is a musician and an animal lover. At work, he is a serial entrepreneur and an e-commerce marketing specialist. Loves to chat about new things and a sucker for cute dog images!
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