We have two dogs now: Sunny and Jinny. If I ever raise my voice at them, my mother threatens to leave me out of her will. They now spend afternoons sleeping at Ma’s feet, getting into growling matches with crows on the window grill, and making it impossible for all of us to come home in a bad mood.
Right now, both are in the only two office chairs at my desk. I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor typing this.
Sunny was found at Dombivli guarding a watchman who guarded a building. Someone chopped off his tail, and the watchman had to call animal rescue because he couldn’t afford medical fees. Jinny was found near Dadar Station by schoolkids who then called rescuers.
The evolution of man is the evolution of dogs. No other creature is designed in its DNA to fulfil the function of companion, protector, and emotional support for us humans. My Sunny and Jinny are of an unknown mixed breed. Streeties fall under the umbrella name of ‘indie’, which seems like a fitting name for this independent-minded group of dogs and to the fact that it took years of adaptation and natural selection for them to be here — on streets, homes, and hearts in the Indian subcontinent.
Indies have Indian qualities: sturdy, agile, resourceful, fast learners, and protective. They are the original ‘Made in India’. My friend Shivani calls them ‘community dogs’. And she’s right. If streets are a part of our community, then creatures on them are that community as well. Conflict between man and animal plays out in our cities regularly. ‘Stray Dog Menace’ appears as a headline at least once a week, and we’re still struggling with rabies cases. At the same time, the internet is rife with videos of blood-curdling cruelties being conducted on dogs by people who are entertained by them. A fellow stand-up comedian was beaten up recently by people for feeding dogs. Animal rescuers are harassed daily.These animals are easy targets to direct fear and anger towards in many cases. The death of Wagh Bakri Tea Group executive director Parag Desai last year, after he had a fall and sustained a head injury, was framed as him running after being attacked by dogs. It was later revealed that the dogs had seen him fall and were barking to attract attention and get help.
The recent incident of an infant in Delhi was framed as an attack by street dogs. It was later revealed that the attack had been due to the nefarious activities of a human breeder nearby. The second part of both incidents hardly made the news. It was just framed to scare us, demonise dogs, and keep TRPs high.
Dogs can hardly defend themselves on a news panel, or against an angry human mob out for blood. In our country, where humanity is stretched thin every passing minute, space for being humane towards animals is contracting rapidly.
There are TV debates about it as if there are two sides to it. It does a terrible disservice not only to dogs, but also to humans who are affected and bear the brunt of it. The most devout animal lover and the overworked animal rescuer will tell you the solution: neuter the current population, and encourage people to adopt local dogs instead of fancy breeds from breeders.
Mission Rabies runs campaigns all year round, in almost all cities, to vaccinate community canines. They recommend educating people on how to coexist with dogs so that the animal in them does not conflict with the animal in us.
I watch the TV debates on dog-human ‘conflicts’ with Sunny and Jinny by my side. When they watch the panellists foaming at the mouth and barking ferociously at each other, they roll their eyes at me as if to say, ‘Wow, your species is insane’.