Samjhana KC, 24, is a “proud parent” of five adopted street dogs. Her story began fifteen years ago when a one year old dog was abandoned by her owners because she got “too playful” and “hard to handle.” Her owners had left her near a heap of garbage so that she could “fend for herself.” Coincidentally, Samjhana, a little girl back then, happened to be in the vicinity and she brought the animal home. And many more followed thereafter. [break]
Samjhana describes a dog as a child that never grows up. She agrees that dogs can be quite a handful since they demand round the clock care and attention. She has a separate “dog calendar” that includes the schedule for pet care rituals.
Photo Courtesy: Samjhana KC
However, unlike her and a few others, a lot of people are extremely wary regarding the dog population in their locality.
Shambhavi Thapa, 20, despises stray dogs, no matter what “race” they belong to. She is always scared that “the gangs of savages” might bite her and she might catch rabies. “Why doesn’t KMC get rid of them?” she asks.
Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has faced a lot of trouble with stray dogs in the past. Until 2003, KMC had a provision of poisoning stray dogs. However, amidst great hue and cry from animal right activists, this inhuman act was put to an end. After 2004, KMC, in association with the Kathmandu Animal Treatment (KAT) Center, started Animal Birth Control Program (ABC) whose mission was to spay the females and leave them on the streets or put them up for adoption.
While talking about rabies, Dr. Babu Ram Gautam, head of Health and Social Welfare Department at KMC, says that in order to nullify the chances of the disease, the dog has to be vaccinated for three consecutive years. He says that within three years he expects Kathmandu to be a rabies free zone with minimal stray dogs. It requires a lot of expertise to deal with rabid dogs. “So it will take some time,” he comments.
However, Shambhavi’s sentiments are echoed by many city dwellers. Street dogs of a metropolis truly seem to live “a dog’s life.” They’re not just dirty, vulnerable and ugly looking but are disliked and redundant creatures in general.
There are many who throw tidbits at starving homeless dogs. But few go to the extent of even thinking of them as pets rather than pests.
Weird as it may sound, “racism” is an issue among dogs as well. Somehow, it all boils down to the class consciousness that makes people believe that as long as you can afford to, you should always go for the most expensive, whether it’s cars or pets. Adopting street dogs, for many, is therefore out of question.
But the fact that draws Samjhana to street dogs is their suffering. She claims that she would never have a pedigree as a pet. She is not in favor of “commoditization” of dogs. She mentions she found her latest pup Teapot unconscious by the roadside. People didn’t want her; not just because she was sick, dirty and dying, but also because she was a stray female. “Nobody wants a mixed breed female because they would bring no monetary benefits,” Samjhana comments.
Dr. Gautam refers to street dogs as “community dogs.” He further shares that the “race” of the dog ceases to be an issue when they are out in the streets. Any dog that is turned into a “community dog,” dead or alive, should be dealt with caution regardless of its “breed.” He further adds that one of the major reasons why “community dogs” appear is because their owners abandon them in the streets.
Asmita Sharma, 23, says that she would not want to be a “racist” by having a pet dog simply because it belonged to a certain breed. Asmita, who found a month old Kaanchhu abandoned on the streets because she was a mixed breed female, gave it away because there wasn’t enough space and company at her place. “We had to shut her up in a small verandah all day because nobody would be home. I felt it was unfair and cruel,” she says.
Soon enough, Asmita found a perfect home for Kaanchhu where she could play around as there was so much space. Also, there were old people and small kids in this family who could be with her all day and take her out for walks. Asmita claims that the pup looks extremely happy in her new surroundings.
However, there are people who have witnessed that though dogs are initially brought into the house with great enthusiasm and expectations, gradually, with change in time and scenario, regardless of their “race,” people may get rid of them.
According to Bharat Regmi, a vet, apart from personal interest, there might be alternative reasons as to why people would want pedigrees instead of mixed breeds. “Rearing then selling pedigrees is a good way of generating income,” he explains. He reveals that in many cases, when the dogs grow old and can’t reproduce anymore, they’re left on the streets by the owners.
Stray animals thus discarded, if not properly managed, become a nuisance in due course. Moreover, it’s unfair and brutal to leave your pets out in the streets just because “you grew out of them” or because “they are no longer useful.”
Aggressiveness or roguishness due to the lack in training and handling come across as the other reasons why people get rid of their pets.
Prajwol Manandhar, a trainer, comments that dogs, male or female, become a burden to the family if they get can’t be controlled. As a trainer, he feels that it’s quite difficult to train a dog after it reaches a certain age, especially if it has been isolated and tethered all its life.
Animal rights activist Pramada Shah, an owner of eight dogs, pedigrees as well as mixed breeds, shares that the latter make better guard dogs and are smarter as well. However, she feels it’s heartless to desert your pets in the streets, pedigrees or otherwise, once you get tired of them or when they cease to be of further use.
In a city full of dog lovers, a street dog living on a pile of garbage or under a bridge, vulnerable to accidents, prone to diseases or poisoned to death comes across as a pitiful picture. Almost everyone who wants a dog seems to be on the lookout of a “pedigree,” whether by purchase or bequest. But is adopting a stray dog from the roadside too difficult a choice to make?
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