Advertisement
Published: April 12th 2012
Edit Blog Post
‘Man’s best friend’, as dogs are often named in developed nations, couldn’t be a more inappropriate term for the dogs of India. The number of stray dogs in India is simply staggering. Some dogs have been so badly treated that they have come to fear humans, even those who try to feed them. Instead of jumping at the chance for free food many Indian dogs cower and whimper away from the human hand.
I believe Indian dogs have got even more character than domesticated dogs, however, because on two occasions, the tenacious and street-wise dogs of India have come to the rescue. On the first occasion, leaving a party in the early hours of the morning in Goa, two dogs took it upon themselves to guide me and 4 companions back to the main road, guiding us in exactly the right direction for over an hour. We didn’t know where we were and the dogs somehow knew that we needed the main road to find our way home. More importantly, passing through a hostile street of 30 dogs all barking and facing up to the 5 humans, our two protective dogs managed to face off all 30 other
dogs and guide us through to the road safely.
On the second occasion, during the Hampta pass trek from Manali over into the Spiti Valley, two of the group including myself began to suffer from quite severe altitude sickness. On the third day, climbing up to the pass at 4200m altitude, we were joined by a troupe of 3 stray dogs, who again took it upon themselves to walk behind the group at all times. Not one of the dogs ever went ahead of the person at the back of the group. This meant that the two of us struggling with altitude sickness always had companions even in the swirling mist of the highest Hampta pass ascent. They disappeared as we descended into a beautiful u-shaped glacial valley and presumably headed back expecting to assist another set of trekkers in the next day or two. They were really wise and thoughtful creatures.
Nevertheless, in the cities of India you can see a dog desperately chewing on leaves in the street through hunger or slurping on filthy sewage water. Indeed while deceased dogs in developed countries are almost given funerals and often treated on the
same level as humans, deceased dogs in India are swept off the street like dust. Western dogs can also be put down in inexpensive and humane ways before the pain of old age or disability sets in.
Perhaps this mirrors the favouritism shown to cows in India woth their holy status. Interaction between cattle and humans on the streets is, however, minimal and the streets of Delhi have almost been cleared entirely of cattle in the last 3 years. Either way, there is no hiding the fact that dogs are often treated appallingly inIndia. The organisations involved in canine wellbeing have little power and at best can pick out male dogs to neuter them to slow down the breeding process.
Animal welfare in general is poor. In Bangalore there was one example opposite my flat where 40-50 geese were held in appalling conditions in a tiny cage worthy of 4 geese at most on the owners rooftop. The cage was never cleaned and there was no chance of animal welfare officers inspecting the premises.
What can be said for India is that because a huge percentage of the population is vegetarian,
the country lacks any of the animal factories that plague developed countries with processed meat and contain animals in almost static lives. A movie during the tour of the New Delhi ISKON temple states that ‘in the next life the chicken you ate might eat you.’
One could even argue that the popularity of pet dogs in develpoed nations is a need to fulfil the breakdown of human interaction that has risen with increasingly technology dependent lifestyles. Career goals have become more important than community action. Dogs perhaps have become a substitute for genuine human relationships as a result of community breakdowns and diminishing trust.
As the accompanying picture demonstrates, monkeys, although perfectly capable of looking after themselves in India, can also be subject to horrific treatment. In Hampi this old-hand monkey with a worn face was tethered by a piece of string to his human master. Munju, as he was named, was dressed in a miniature fabric jacket and was forced to do tricks in front of foreigners by his master to try and extract money out of them.
Social welfare is so poor in the slums of India that
it's hardly surprising animal welfare is not a priority. To look at the argument from the other side, most elephants in India are treated with deep respect. The incredible memory of the elephant is held with great esteem by Indians. To be able to live in such harmony with cows all over the streets is also a testament to a general acceptance of animals.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 38; dbt: 0.0273s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
ingnova
Ingrida
I disagree about being humanitarian is one of the reasons for mistreating animals. wold say quite an opposite. But in general, all statements quite agreeable. That's the variety of cultures, economical stages for us to compare. But sadly, India brings me to conclusion if oldest civilization got to such point, humans are the worst animals.