Dr. Kuhu Roy writes,
Keeping a dog's trust
This picture is special to me because I kept my
promise to Julie, Jassi, Jerry and Jenny. They returned to their premises today
after recovering from sterilisation surgery. The Manager of the workshop had a
problem with their existence in the open junkyard. A communication was sent to
him by the Bridging Rainbows Foundation to respect the law of the land, deeply influenced by dog
dynamics and dog psychology, mandates that stray dogs picked up for
sterilisation need to be dropped back to the precise place they were picked up
from. Hopefully, all is well that ends well.
This reminds me of the only dog removal call I had
ever received. Don't be shocked, so many animal welfare organisations in India
offer this service because it is a win win for everybody, barring strays dogs
and public health ofcourse, a testament of which is the colossal mess the
latter two are in.
So, this lady called me up asking to do
"something" about stray dogs in her residential block. She was
traumatized by the presence of those stray dogs when she took her dog for a
walk. I asked her if the dogs were sterilised. No idea. Then I asked if their
ears were clipped (which depict the dog is sterilised and vaccinated against
rabies). No idea. If they are fed and looked after by someone. No idea. If they
have access to water, no idea. If they are teased or hit by residents, no idea.
"What have you called me for?"
"Actually, I am migrating to Canada in
sometime. I want to live comfortably until then. Can you please take the dogs
somewhere? I will donate good money."
"I have a better idea. I have your name and
location, let me send a communication to the Canadian embassy in Ahmedabad
regarding the law of the land that you want to break."
"Oh my God, how can you do that?"
"Should I prove it?"
She hung up the phone. The dogs never came to any
harm. But yes, I earned myself a very bad name, but so worth it.
Had I entertained that call, I would have been
rolling in money because my number would have been passed onto all those who
may have wanted to get rid of stray dogs. It is never ending vicious cycle
happening every day in every city in India.
What is your experience in your own city regarding
illegal dog removal?
