By Sadhana Hegde

If you are a parent who is worried for the safety of your children after reading about recent dog bite articles forwarded to you in residential WhatsApp groups, and you are thinking of elimination of dogs all together in your area, then this article is for you.

Animals go through worse abuse than humans. Which means both parties are affected in this conflict & this is an important point that seems to be lost in news reporting.

Multiple research studies for decades have highlighted 4 important points to the people across the world. Yet, media never tells you this –

ONE – Dogs & Cats play a very important role in keeping rodent population in control in your area. If you eliminate all the dogs in your area, then rodent infestation can cause more life threatening & contagious diseases than a dog bite or a cat poop can cause. Your local municipal body can only kill so much rats.

TWO – People who have irrational hate or anger towards animals & recommend killing them too often are exposing psychopathic symptoms. Humans who are psychopathic in nature always attack animals first. If dogs & cats are out of the scene, then your children &

women are next in line for attacks. This is not a generic statement.

THREE – No dogs in any area, would mean easy access to anti-social elements and thieves to commit crimes without any alarm or interruptions. Your CCTV & security guard can only save you so much.

FOUR – DOGS are natural inhabitants of the earth. They are territorial by nature. If you eliminate one pack of dogs, then a new pack of dogs will take that space & that is nature.

DID YOU KNOW?

At least 20 – 25 street dogs go through rape & torture by humans every day & this goes unreported. 

Every day more than 50 dogs per city go through hit & run accidents & die brutally.

Every day there are 100s of dogs that are getting killed in the name of human safety across the country

Are dog bites really that high?

For a population of 1.3 crores people, the dog population is at 2.6%. Even if the dog population is assumed as 5 lacs in 2023 as an exaggeration, then also the population is 3%.

As per ABC law if the dog population is controlled aggressively, then the % can come to 1.5% for Bengaluru. Now this is the lowest & still would be the healthiest number. In fact, this 3% if vaccinated & sterilized can still be a decent number to maintain the balance in the

eco-system.

In total the dog bites have not been more than 0.5%. Which in reality is negligible & expected in cities which are densely populated.

Food for thought for citizens:

There is no denial about your worry for safety, but why only elimination is on your mind? Have you wondered, why your residential welfare associations & apartment associations are suggesting culling or relocating of dogs and not a session to understand

dogs and co-exist with them?

How are you so sure that this kind of mob mentality will not hurt humans tomorrow? What if you have to deal with hostile /noisy neighbors in your own house and you don’t have a

say due to same majority mandate?

Dogs are protected species in our country & Supreme court orders as well as the latest animal laws clearly says killing, maiming, starving, chasing, beating or relocating dogs as well as cats is a punishable offence.

In case a whole crowd is suggesting or planning any of the above then irrespective of them hiring the best lawyer in the country, the whole crowd can be booked for criminal conspiracy to break the law.

Needless to say, Karma is also keeping a watch along with nature. No matter what humans do, nature has from time to time restored the balance itself.

ARE YOU REALLY SURE, BREAKING THE LAW IS WORTH IT?

THINK ABOUT IT.

Well, even now RWAs / AOAs have opportunity to mend their approach in dealing with dog-human conflict.

a. Reach out to the feeder in your street, talk to them and understand the nature of dogs & triggers for them in your street.

b. Start feeding in assigned spots by partnering with the feeder.

c. Allow your children to interact with street dogs under parental supervision & with oversight from the feeder.

d. Participate in vaccination & sterilization of dogs in your area. Thoughtful feeding, kind residents who don’t walk around with sticks or shoo them away, friendly kids – can actually make the dogs in your street a bundle of joy than a nuisance.

This article was originally published in Bharat Voice.