Delhi's Stray Dogs
India's cities teem with stray dogs (though not as much as they teem with people). None of the dogs are fixed. You often seen bitches in milk followed by a tumbling procession of cute wag-tailed pups. Before, I hardly noticed them; they were a given of urban life. Now I do notice them, and I realize that not all strays are created equal.
Worst off are the scroungers. They have no human friends, and rely on what they can scavenge from garbage. Fortunately, there's no shortage of that. Unfortunately, with all the neighborhood bitches in pup twice a year, there's a lot of competition. They have short lives, usually, but reproduce themselves before they go.
Then there are the tolerated strays, which usually hang around bored outdoor humans - security guards, pushcart vendors, gardeners. They're occasionally given scraps, and provide some company and amusement. No one misses them much if they're killed by traffic or other dogs or disease.
The collared strays are better off. They're the ones someone cares about to put collars on. They may have been given rabies shots, are probably given at least one regular meal of scraps or better, and may even have been neutered or spayed. These usually occupy a particular territory, and defend it against other dogs - sometimes by forming a small pack of two or three animals. They're vulnerable to being dumped when their patron loses interest or is away.
Finally, there are the outdoor pets, collared strays that found a particularly good situation. They get fed regularly, they may have some kind of beds made for them by a staircase or on a verandah, they get vet visits when they're sick. Their patrons make arrangements for their care when they're traveling. They have names. They may not quite be house-pets, but they do all right.
In Delhi now there's a consensus that killing strays is pointless, they can outbreed any effort the municipality can make, and the countryside is full of dogs that will move into any vacant territory. A better approach is to fix the strays and care for a few in each community, thus defending the turf with well-cared for dogs. A couple of people I know are doing just that: they each have three outdoor pet dogs that they feed and look after. A visiting vet comes by from time to time.
Unfortunately, in each case, they evoke a hostile response from a few dog-hating neighbors who do not understand canine ecology: Other dogs will quickly move in if they get rid of the ones living there. At least these dogs have their rabies shots.
Worst off are the scroungers. They have no human friends, and rely on what they can scavenge from garbage. Fortunately, there's no shortage of that. Unfortunately, with all the neighborhood bitches in pup twice a year, there's a lot of competition. They have short lives, usually, but reproduce themselves before they go.
Then there are the tolerated strays, which usually hang around bored outdoor humans - security guards, pushcart vendors, gardeners. They're occasionally given scraps, and provide some company and amusement. No one misses them much if they're killed by traffic or other dogs or disease.
The collared strays are better off. They're the ones someone cares about to put collars on. They may have been given rabies shots, are probably given at least one regular meal of scraps or better, and may even have been neutered or spayed. These usually occupy a particular territory, and defend it against other dogs - sometimes by forming a small pack of two or three animals. They're vulnerable to being dumped when their patron loses interest or is away.
Finally, there are the outdoor pets, collared strays that found a particularly good situation. They get fed regularly, they may have some kind of beds made for them by a staircase or on a verandah, they get vet visits when they're sick. Their patrons make arrangements for their care when they're traveling. They have names. They may not quite be house-pets, but they do all right.
In Delhi now there's a consensus that killing strays is pointless, they can outbreed any effort the municipality can make, and the countryside is full of dogs that will move into any vacant territory. A better approach is to fix the strays and care for a few in each community, thus defending the turf with well-cared for dogs. A couple of people I know are doing just that: they each have three outdoor pet dogs that they feed and look after. A visiting vet comes by from time to time.
Unfortunately, in each case, they evoke a hostile response from a few dog-hating neighbors who do not understand canine ecology: Other dogs will quickly move in if they get rid of the ones living there. At least these dogs have their rabies shots.