"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
-Mahatma Gandhi
Apparently our nation has degraded to the nadir of barbarity displayed by the crass mentality of its citizens.
Dogs are being killed left, right and centre in Bangalore, aided by the bloodthirsty rantings of some Bangalore-waasis who've suddenly woken up to the fact that they may really be descendants of Genghis Khan or have more barbaric origins.
A modern India is witnessing a carnage - of animals that cannot defend themselves or do not have the werewithal to extract revenge from the murderers. And we call ourselves a 'progressive nation'.
What shocks me is that on an average, 4 out of 10 people I talk to, advocate killing the stray dogs. And that is what the Municipality of Bangalore is finding strength in, in an attempt to save its skin for being thoroughly inefficient, inept and corrupt by not cleaning up the garbage off the streets and not disbursing allocated funds to NGOs to sterilize and vaccinate the dogs. The municipality was caught with its pants down but to its good luck, found that it was in a nudist camp.
The same municipality that professes lack of resources, personnel and funds to catch dogs for sterilization, proudly flagged 30 new Dog-catching vans to catch the dogs and kill them. Shame on you, BMP comissioner K Jairaj.
I am surprised that apparently normal people with allegedly good upbringing actually want the dogs to be killed fully knowing that there are other, more humane alternatives available. Either there is something VERY rotten with the way these people have been brought up or else they're plain stupid.
And I am very very concerned about the children they're going to be bringing into this society. With an attitude like this around me, I wonder if I want to be a contributing member of this society. And the irony is, many of them also say 'oh, we love our pet dogs, but these strays must be killed'.
It is frustrating and amusing at the same time to see the kind of points such people come up with to 'strengthen' their stance. Over all the debates I had, I have compiled a tongue-in-cheek FAQs to the questions/comments I've faced from the pro-killing fools:
What good will sterilization achieve? It is a long-term measure, without any immediate effects
Sterilization of dogs achieves a manifold effect:
1. Male dogs normally chase cars at night or hang around in packs or even have a tendency to be aggressive and bite because they're producing testosterone - yeah the same thingie that makes all the human males you know, so randy and touchy/picky about a small scratch on their beloved cars. Sterilization means that testosterone is not produced anymore in the body (you cut off the source) and that immediately finishes off the aggression in male dogs. They become friendly, docile and unthreatening (in other words, dont have the balls anymore to bite your sorry ass off for kicking them around). They stop hanging around in packs and lead the rest of their lives peacefully without coming in your way.
2. Female dogs are aggressive when they perceive their pups to be in danger. Sterilize the ladies and there are no pups to protect.
Dogs bark at night...its as bad as the loudspeakers during the festivals. Kill em :
I wont go the jingo-istic way and say - hey, do we kill the people organizing loudspeakers and rat-jagaas at night?
Get those dogs sterilized and see for yourself if they still bark uselessly at night. There is a scientific reason as to why sterilization reduces aggression amongst dogs and also makes them more docile etc and people dont seem to want to believe it!
Keep all dogs in your home since you're such a dog lover:
We dont have space or the money, else we would. Seriously. The govt has allocated space and money but refuses to release the same. So why the heck, when there is space and money available and not being released because of corruption and inefficiency, should the dogs be killed? Is'nt this a case of misplaced priorities? Focus, people. The dogs are being held accountable instead of the people in power who're with holding the allocated sums. Is'nt that kind of rotten? And you guys are supporting it?
NGOs/animal lovers dont do anything for the bitten people
ummm...Since you seem to be more sympathetic, why dont you guys do something FOR them for a change? Animal welfare NGOs bring out pamphlets every year on where to go and what to do if you get bitten by dogs and go to schools building up awareness about rabies. What do you guys do for the bitten people? Apart from advocating killing. Heh - I seriously draw comparison to the tribes in NW frontier areas where if something criminal happens, they screw the happiness of the entire families of criminals - do you guys realise that at one basic level, y'all are also displaying a similar attitude? Now if you're fine with that, I'm fine too, but would'nt want my kids to come anywhere near you:-)
You're comparing dogs to humans
I'm comparing the life of an animal that I hold dear, to the life of a human. It is a little ironic that people see the wood but missed the forest. Killing innocent living beings is barbaric. Period. So why should I not draw comparisons? And yeah, I'd definitely cherish the street dog's company near my building more than the company of the municipal commissioner or a Shiv Sena guy - you're welcome to hang around with them, of course. I dont feel insulted if you do. Millions of years of evolution, and to end at this level of barbarity? To be killing 10,000 dogs for an incident which probably involved not more than 5 dogs (probably super-aggressive or conditioned to tear because of the meat shops nearby). Now if that is what is evolution about...you're welcome to evolve more. But please, take the next spaceship to Uranus.
The question of money - keep killing dogs till we get the money to sterilize
A big question. Plagues everything in the world.
We dont see anger on Bill Gates Foundation for spreading awareness about treating AIDS patients nicely? They also lack enough money to take all the AIDS affected people in and give them a great life and medication so they try and bring out advertisements to make people aware that AIDS patients are not really dangerous to the average idiot on the streets.
Well, maybe some of you will soon raise a voice against that too. 'Get along with just finishing these walking disasters, right away - we dont have money to treat them, who knows tomorrow they'll come and scratch us and infect us with HIV..these NGOs dont have money, so let the govt finish em off. Keep killing the AIDS patients or the polio kids till we get the money to treat em all' - very Nazi-esque.
As for people again being incredulous that I bring humans into the picture - I'm just forseeing your attitudes in the future when you find validation on a smaller scale in dogs.
So yeah to get back to money. There's enough money. Only not in the right hands. Instead of acknowledging that and holding people accountable, kill dogs..oh yeah...the municipality guys MUST get rich...after all they deserve more than these dogs...they're humans, aye. Sigh..and you guys project yourself as the face of a modern India?
'I/my family have been chased by dogs, so I'd love to see them all killed'
Dude, get those dogs sterilized - you dont have to do a thing apart from making a phone call to an animal welfare organization. They wont even ask you for money - they'll try to raise the money on their own from people who do care. You wont be attacked in the future - its all in the testosterone. And yeah, for gods sake stop bothering the dogs on the streets or kicking their pups around - otherwise they WILL screw your happiness if you're alone.
Why dont you direct your attention at the poor farmers committing suicides?
We'd love to. However we're constrained by priorities. If thats a bigger priority or you, do something about it, start a petition (at the very least, heh) and we'll sign. Maybe we'll even talk a bit in your favour on internet boards and play an advocacy role. We promise not to bug you by asking you to do something about the dogs too just because you're keen to help someone in some way.
Neutering is not humane-have you asked he dogs if they want to live like that?
frankly, I agree with that too. However, given the options - to kill or to neuter, I choose the lesser evil. As for the macho statement of 'I'd rather die than have my balls cut', I sincerely hope that you never ever have to be in a situation where you have to make a choice. However I'm willing to bet my last paisa that you'll eat your words then.
I pay my taxes, why the F are these dogs still barking at night?
Well dont ask us or the dogs! Ask the politicians and the babus who were supposed to get the dogs neutered and get them quieted down for the night. And while you're doing that, please also ask them why the f*, when you're paying your taxes, are you still stuck in traffic jams, why you have to pay a bribe to get anything done, why is your food getting costlier, why do you not get uninterrupted power supply, why is the drinking water so effing dirty and ummm..I'm sure you can come up with many such questions. Maybe then you'd advocate killing all the babus who just took a bribe to feed their family - killing seems to be the 'in' thing with some people after all.
Why are we wasting time here debating and punching keystrokes while dogs are getting killed
I know it is as impossible to convince people who strongly blv that dogs should be killed as it is to get me to change mine - all arguments put forth here are more for the fence-sitters and to ensure that wrong information/half baked information and bad logic does not propagate via this medium.
In todays age, information and access to it is not a rare commodity anymore. We have to make sure that we advocate for causes we believe in, lest some impressionable people read blatantly wrong views and form their own on that basis. Debate, while being a lot of hot air, is important to help fence-sitters crystallize their own opinions. Advocacy for a cause is often as important as the cause itself - because it affects mindsets.
One plea to anyone who cares to read this. The next time you're walking down the road, try being kind to a stray dog and it will respond with twice the affection you gave it. Try petting it and watch its tail wag so hard that its entire body shakes, just because noone has ever loved it like that.
And then imagine all those poor loving animals being dragged by putting steel wires around their throats, being swung around by steel wires to choke them, being hit on the head with iron rods, having their throats slit, being electrocuted or burnt alive.
I saw a video where a municipality worker caught a dog with a steel wire and the poor dog was still wagging its tail thinking its in for a treat. Its head was smashed in moments later. Where the hell is Maneka Gandhi, for all her animal loving protestations in the past?
A guy I know from an online forum mocked a dog-lover for breaking down on TV while describing how the dogs were killed. I guess this guy never had someone it loved dragged away by steel wires and electrocuted to death.
I've no intention of sending you off with a bad taste in your mouth but the situation is SO bad that everyone MUST feel some kind of shock or distaste at whats happening in Bangalore these days. Hence these pictures below. If you still dont feel anything for the dogs, may god save you:
Throats slit open, brutally killed and dumped - all with the active support of the citizens of a 'modern India'
17 comments:
its really sad. i know its not gonna happen, but all the government employees responsible for this must be kicked out immediately, without pension ... and not just the executioners, but the commanding officers. more so the commanding officers. they should've more sense than that. its getting a scarier place day-by-day, our india.
~Jaggu
the use of words such as "rantings of bangalore waasi" does a great job at turning this into a pseudo-rational writeup. you should have been a politician, sir! suggest you knock off these provocative words and then we could perhaps have a reasoned exchange?
incidentally, thousands of goats, chicken, cows, whatnot get their throats slit everyday. so what is so special about a few 'ranting dogs' getting eliminated? shouldn't animal activists protest against animal slaughter across species? but wait, let me guess... dogs look so much cuter and cuddlier than your downmarket goat! i wonder what mickey mouse has to say about this!
note that i am not supporting the reduction/ elimination/killing (or in your hyper parlance, SLAUGHTER) of dogs. but if those buggers are going to bite people and be a nuisance to all, then sir, they should go. incidentally, if it had turned out that kids in blr were getting bitten by snakes, wonder what your stance would have been if you had read that the CM had ordered the SLAUGHTER of snakes! holy snakes, that is GENOCIDE against snakes!
Jagdeep:
yeah I totally agree when you say India is becoming a scarier place by the day. Esp when you see policemen opening fire on innocent villages in Bengal and the Maharashtra govt taking land from farmers to give to Mukesh Ambani - all in the name of development.
deepak:
your suggestion of knocking off the 'rantings of bangalore-waasis' from my blog has been noted but turned down. Because I have heard enough Bangalore-waasis ranting about it by now and am truly amazed at the so-called 'progressive' people that India always chest-thumps about.
'Reasoned exchange??' lol. And what exactly will we get out of a 'reasoned exchange' here? Maybe you do not realize that we're past the stage of reasoned 'exchange' (esp with just about everyone) now - esp when hundreds of dogs are being killed every day.
"shouldn't animal activists protest against animal slaughter across species?"
In an ideal world, yes - we should. I dont really like the 'downmarket goat', as you call it, being slaughtered - but theres a difference between killing for food and killing for revenge/fun. Hope you realize that difference in 1 life.
I'd love to see people turn vegetarians - but even I realize that thats asking for too much in one lifetime, no? and no...its not only the cuddly dogs - blv me, I'd raise a mighty mighty stink if the govt decided to kill snakes too.
"dogs look so much cuter and cuddlier than your downmarket goat"
oh, btw, if you bothered to stop and look at the stray dogs, you would'nt want to cuddle most of them - the poor things are mostly infested with all kinds of maggot wounds, are mangy and basically in a bad condition - from an aesthetic point of view, I'd find a 'downmarket goat' more cuddly.
"or in your hyper parlance, SLAUGHTER) of dogs"
hyper parlance?? I'd also probably then expect that when someone talks about the Gujarat killings, you'll ask them to tone down the 'hyper parlance'. Picture this Deepak. Animals are being killed ruthlessly and in hundreds for no particular reason other than that some dogs in some part of bangalore killed a poor kid - now if thats not slaughter, I fail to grasp what it is. Hyper, my foot.
"but if those buggers are going to bite people and be a nuisance to all, then sir, they should go"
I can say with authority that only 1 out of 50 (or even less) stray dogs would bite humans - does that mean you kill them ALL? Now thats a new world order, right? Because my parents or teachers did not bring me up to be talking/thinking like that.
In case you did not read the entire post above, let me reiterate again. It is ONLY the rarest of rare case where dogs set upon kids or humans. They otherwise only bite if they've been provoked (in which case you probably do need to get bitten) or else if they're rabid (in which case, they're euthanised because they're a real menace then). And sterilization makes a dog very non-aggressive.
So yeah, dont even think of telling me that if a dog bites, you have to kill every dog in sight - because thats patently stupid.
Let me give you a little statistic. In delhi, 103 dog-bites were reported in 2005. In the same year, 4318 rapes were reported. Now I dont see anyone advocating that the families/relatives/friends of these rapists be killed?
With great regret, animal welfare NGOs DO put down extra-aggressive dogs if they remain such even after sterilization just so that they're not a public menace....but kill ALL dogs?? Did something happen to perfectly rational human beings overnight when I was sleeping? Did people get buzzed by some freak radiation to be mutated into reckless vogons (ref: Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy)?
"incidentally, if it had turned out that kids in blr were getting bitten by snakes, wonder what your stance would have been if you had read that the CM had ordered the SLAUGHTER of snakes! holy snakes, that is GENOCIDE against snakes!"
Yeah it is, and it'd raise an even bigger protest - because then the wildlife activists would also join in and make life truly hell for the CM - I can imagine the Greenpeace guys throwing doggy turds at the CM's car...so just hope that the CM never takes a stupid decision like that.
BTW, the standard practice - Snakes when caught are not killed for biting, but are taken to their wild habitat and let off there.
Those pictures made me cry.
I can't really think beyond that right now..
And to those who can't fathom why we normally give dogs special treatment - it's because of the evolutionary bond that dogs and humans have shared for at least 20,000 years.
For this reason, chickens and goats aren't as popular pet choices as dogs are. And for this reason, it's taboo to eat dogs in most cultures. Remember, people kill goats and chickens for food, not because they're 'a nuisance'.
Although, I'm sure you are affected by this and understandably so given the brutality of the killing, I have the following commentary:
1. The Indian state and its people may wish to care for dogs and not kill them but it shouldn't before its obligation to the well being of its people is fulfilled. You may dislike the fact that democracy prioritises right-wing nationalists over dogs- that is your choice. If enough people made choices like that, fascism would easily prevail. You humaneness seems to have overridden your humanity.
2. Your concern over this issue cannot and should not affect the concern that readers may have over millions of people in India who are suffering (not from dogbites, mind you). This is not a relevant symptom of India getting worse day-by-day. For millenia, large parts of Indian society have been treated worse than worms. What you say is important- but not as important as many other things I read in the papers about so many of my people and the way they are treated.
Thank you hbrains for your comments.
1. The well-being of dogs and the well-being of millions of poor/marginalised people in India (and elsewhere in the world) are two different issues - do not confuse them with being interlinked/intertwined in any way.
I really fail to see how the people of the Indian state are getting a better life if the dogs are killed instead of being sterilized and the garbage is removed from the streets. Let me assure you, if the dogs are sterilized and garbage removed from the streets, the very same people for whom the state should care for, will lead much better lives without having to kill anyone in the process.
Unfortunately, what IS happening here is that the corrupt bureaucrats who've been funelling funds (for cleaning up the city and sterilization of dogs) into their pockets, have found support from the mob mentality of people.
And errrrr...if right wing nationalism DID prevail over killing of dogs with public support, dude, fascism would DEFINITELY prevail - you seem to have confused my choice with the choice for a right wing nationalism - the likes of which were responsible for the carnage in Gujarat in recent times. Blv me, this is often the first signal of a society going rotten at its core - you may say I'm going overboard, but is'nt it uncanny that the same people who happily endorsed the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat are also happily advocating the killing of dogs (those despicable Shiv Sena fellows amongst others) - you see, they believe in killing what they dont like - and their choices are leading towards a fascist mentality - not mine.
2. "Your concern over this issue cannot and should not affect the concern that readers may have over millions of people in India who are suffering"
hmmm...again, I will request you to separate different issues and not bunch them together. You mean that environmentalists should stop talking about global warming and focus on farmer suicides? Or errrrm...the Kashmiri Hindus should give up their protests and instead go and sit on dharna for the Dalits in Bihar? Or maybe you mean that the people working on TB/polio etc should stop that and focus their energies on AIDS?
Buddy, everyone joins cause with issues that they're passionate about. While they may be sympathetic to many other issues, asking them to focus on what you think is a more important issue is ...unfair. Why dont you pick up a cause of your own that you feel is important and maybe we'll cheer you from the sidelines.
"This is not a relevant symptom of India getting worse day-by-day"
Yes it is. When 40% of Indians start speaking of irrational killing of innocent animals - I begin to wonder what happened to logical thinking? I begin to wonder what happened to the intelligence that we're so proud of? I also begin to wonder if that is the learnings these 40% of Indians are imparting to their kids - see an issue with something - kill it all off.
You know, this is suddenly not about dogs. This assumes huge significance when you equate this to growing levels of intolerance in the society - not intolerance with the real irritants (corruption, inefficiency) but intolerance with the marginalised and weak. And then I think you suddenly lose your humanity AND your humaneness.
"What you say is important- but not as important as many other things I read in the papers about so many of my people and the way they are treated"
The level of importance you assign to something is validated ONLY by what you DO about it. Reading in the papers is often not enough. For now, this IS the most important thing for me...you are free to choose whats most important to you and then do something about it.
And well atleast the papers write about how your (and my) people are being treated. So its only fair if I write about something that the papers dont want to cover, no?
fair enough- everybody has their protests, you have yours and I have mine. Of course I question your priorities. My expectations rise when I see a critical eye. Don't worry, I won't be asking the sainiks about whether they should be reprioritising. In any case, when I get back on my soapbox, I'm looking forward to your cheers. later, HB
I would like not to be bitten by a stray dog on the street. However, I would also like that stray dogs be given the necessary dignity as living beings. Due to the fault of a few darned meat shop owners, several wonderful animals have been killed in the most barbaric manner. Though I don't have a pet dog, I am definitely not against dogs. I can't bear to see so many animals killed and when they started doing those, I had tears in my eyes. You have rightly drawn the comparison to the rapists in society. Sometimes, humans can be despicable.
However, it is the holier-than-thou attitude of several so-called "animal lovers" which has caused this problem in part. In the fight between two groups of human beings, the canines have unfortunately been victimized. It is exactly the kind of shrill tone that can be seen sometimes in this article that has ticked off several people. The attitude should be "live and let live".
If somebody's child is mauled to death by a dog, "animal lovers" should also try to understand human feelings. I am sure there are quite a few dog lovers who would not like their children mauled to death by dogs. So, when these "animal lovers" start saying that it is OK for the child to lose its life rather than that dog getting caged, you will see a lot of opposition from the public.
Also, some of these "animal lovers" have siphoned off funds from the government that were initially meant for better canine management. So, who is at fault? The general public or a few corrupt people? Therefore, raccoon, you shouldn't be saying that "Bangalore-waasis" are the descendants of Genghis Khan and things like that. You just can't generalize. Such statements of yours will serve only to drive a wedge between Bangaloreans who are also true animal lovers and non-Bangaloreans such as yourself.
I like your spirited defence which shows that you really are a concerned person.
Pranav, hats off to you for writing so spiritedly about this. Your deep anguish and anger at this is understandable - and shows.
I signed that petition recently and have been mailing it left, right and centre to everyone i know who cares enough. Am afraid though that it will hardly have an effect, and while i type this more innocent dogs are being slaughtered - and that pains me like little else.
Am shocked to see the kind of comments that people have left here though - it is a really sad reflection on the kind of logic-defying barbarian sensibilities that prevail in our society. What these sorry souls do not understand is that crying out against animal torture is NOT akin to supporting/condoning a child's death from a dogbite!! I wonder what kind of convoluted logic prevails in their brains, frankly. That the killing of any innocent living being is barbarian - whether human or animal - and by that logic, YES, the killing of that poor child by the dog WAS barbarian - but only the dog who did it could be held responsible for it! The bangalore municipality is covering up its misdeeds with the blood of these innocent creatures, and it is horrifying that there exist so-called educated, thinking citizens who remain blind to this fact even when it is shoved into their sorry faces - really sad that we have so many ostriches amidst us.
Another thing that these people must understand is that it's not about what nilagriva so magnanimously terms "holier-than-thou" activism - it is about raising your voice against what is so plainly WRONG. It is about protesting the killing of an innocent living being. It is about an honest attempt at correcting a deliberately misplaced sense of "justice".
I am going to do a plug for your post, P. We need more sane people to take note of this.
Thanks for your comments, Nilagriva.
So do you mean to say that the non-animal lovers are ticked off by the shrill tone of the animal lovers and thats leading them to harden their stance? thats kind of silly on their part, no? Because that gives strength to what we've been saying all along that all of this is so stupid and illogical. I know for sure that if the shrill animal lovers were not around with their (whatever) attitude, even more dogs would've been killed..so I dont agree with you that we've done any disservice to the cause.
Ummm no...we are as regretful about the poor kid that was killed by the dogs...as anyone else...especially because we realize how rare such a thing is. Noone should have such a fate. I dont think any 'animal lover' ever said that its OK for a kid to be mauled by dogs - you're kind of putting words in our mouths here!!!
If you do know of some 'animal lovers' who've siphoned off funds, it is your responsibility as a citizen to bring that to light and take some names with proof. Just alleging something does not have any real benefit except muddying the waters.
ummm since we're talking about semantics here...I dont think I called all Bangalore-waasis as descendants of Genghis boy...my sentence reads:
'by the bloodthirsty rantings of some Bangalore-waasis who've suddenly woken up to the fact that they may really be illicit descendants of Genghis Khan or have even more barbaric origins.'
you'll notice I am talking about the people who're talking about killing all the dogs.
But your comments are much appreciated:)
Like i promised:
http://shimmeringmercury.blogspot.com/2007/03/save-dogsplease.html
And rounding up more people to take notice and speak out.
Bulbul/Shilpa - thanks a lot!!! I was running out of steam answering people here and offline:-)
We need more people writing/talking vociferously about this.
it really is a small world.
chk out catsofbangalore.blogspot.com too
Sush: truly a small world!! I liked cats of bangalore - have added it to my faves:)
Chanced upon this post and was devastated. I heard the news somewhere but did not realize what it was all about. I've always loved dogs. In fact most animals and cannot believe people can stoop to such disgusting levels and still consider themselves human. The pictures just made me sick. Thanks for writing this up.
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