STRAY DOGS – WHAT WE CAN DO

March 9, 2019, 6:23 pm 

The stray dogs got a lease of life, and began to live freely on the streets of Sri Lanka, after the government rightly banned their killing and thereafter they got a more respectful name ‘Community dogs’. As an alternative to killing, it was decided to sterilize the existing community dogs, so that the stray dog population gradually declined to manageable numbers. Finally hitting number zero when the last well lived sterilized community dog departs will be for the satisfaction of many animal lovers. All community dogs are vaccinated against rabies at government expense and through animal welfare organizations. The latter also provide vaccinations in addition to anti-rabies (i.e. parvo, DHL etc.) care for the dogs by giving them treatment for mange, etc. according to the needs. We should remember that dogs having been domesticated by primitive man, began to depend on cooked food, and it is the ONLY ANIMAL dependent on man for its very survival.

Over the past few years, the community dogs have lived happily on the streets of Sri Lanka, with caring people providing them with food and water, and providing care when they fall sick. In spite of all these benevolent acts, it is unfortunate that some authorities decide to take the law into their hands and kill these dogs to appease the whims and fancies of some people who have wrong notions about stray dogs. Last month 38 dogs who lived around the Kandy Dalada Maligawa went missing mysteriously. If you were in the Kandy town on Saturday March 2, you would have witnessed the silent vigil by a group of individuals demanding to know what happened to these animals.

Looking at the larger picture, stray dogs happen to be there simply because irresponsible individuals dump puppies on to the streets. This is where we too can do our part. Many people turn a blind eye when it comes to caring for these animals, and unfortunately some even go to the extent of preventing them from being fed. Often, those who talk of the menace of stray dogs, do not even realize that they too can do their part to eradicate stray dogs from the streets. If one cares for dogs, one could make the lives of these strays tolerable on the streets. This write up is to catch the eyes of seemingly well meaning people, as an appeal to them to have a fresh look at this problem.

What you can do as community work is as follows:

1) Sterilize both female and male pet dogs or even cats in your houses. If pet owners did their part, by now we would have achieved zero growth of stray dogs. The welfare organizations carrying out sterilization of street dogs, cannot cope with the sheer numbers of puppies getting conveniently dumped in the streets by irresponsible people.

TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STERILIZING ALL PET DOGS & CATS, MALE AND FEMALE. YOU ARE NOT DESTROYING A LIFE WHEN YOU STERILIZE AN ANIMAL!

2) Do not forget that these animals also feel thirsty just like we do. They cannot open a tap to get water on hot sunny days. Today, in the concrete jungles that we live in, both dogs and cats have to wait eagerly for humans to throw some water or open a tap so that there is water in the drains for them to drink.

IF YOU DECIDE TO PROVIDE WATER IN A VESSEL FOR STRAYS, REMEMBER YOU HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE NOT TO CREATE ANOTHER DENGUE "BOMB".

3) Stray dogs feel hungry too. They flock around you expecting some morsel to survive. Encourage your children to leave some food for a stray animal, specially when you go on a trip and there is excess of food, or if there are strays living close to your house. The general belief is that if you provide food it will encourage more and more strays. Dogs are territorial animals and they will not allow outside animals in their territory. It is not easy for a newly dumped dog to find a safe place on the streets.

In other countries such as India, with similar stray dog problems, powerful animal activists have encouraged public institutions to have special designated areas, where left over food could be dumped, so that the stray dogs know where to come for food. If done in an organized manner, this will prevent breeding of flies on dumped stale food, and keep the community dogs contented.

If you decide to adopt this practice, you must remove food that dogs cannot eat such as drumstick fibre, jak seeds, and the like, as well as paper to prevent littering.

Think of this; by any standard depriving strays from getting any food is cruel, when at the government level a decision has been taken to let them live.

CARING PEOPLE HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE, SO THAT FLIES DON’T BREED ON LEFT OVER FOOD GIVEN TO STRAYS. THE LOCATION WHERE FOOD IS PROVIDED SHOULD BE CLEANED PERIODICALLY.

4) Decide to adopt a stray dog instead of looking for thoroughbred animals. If there are dogs in the institution/office, this is the most convenient place to get one for adoption. Also, there are clean cared for, vaccinated, sterilized dogs available from many welfare organizations free of charge.

Also consider having more than one dog if there is space in the house, as dogs, just like humans need companionship. Street dogs deserve a home, and they are very loyal if you give them a warm place to sleep and some food and water. Such dogs are relatively resistant to disease and need minimal care. Having lived on the streets, they are quite independent too. Often the homes of those who care are already filled up with picked up strays. If there are more people to adopt a stray, then every dog in this country will be an owned dog.

ADOPT A STRAY DOG, SO THAT THERE IS ONE STRAY DOG LESS ON THE STREETS.

Animal welfare organizations are very much dedicated to what they are doing, and surprisingly they are often at the receiving end of a lot of criticism. Such people who care for community animals often don’t have time for themselves. Strangely many people do not realize that the benefit of such welfare work is for humans. Apart from the time and energy spent, when donations run dry, they do not think twice in utilizing their own private funds to carry out animal welfare work.

We must not forget that the earlier method of controlling stray dogs, was through killing them, which was truly a brutal act that some of us old enough have witnessed. Obviously this inhumane uncivilized method did not result in any significant control of stray dogs. Instead it probably inculcated more revulsion among young and tender minds creating a lasting feeling of hatred in some while in others, it helped endorse cruelty.

Hope the reader will consider that together, we can easily eliminate stray dogs from the streets humanely, if we too can do our part, until the day dawns when every dog becomes an owned dog.

It is noteworthy that in the eyes of Mahathma Gandhi, the great Indian leader and humanitarian, a society is civilized when it takes care of the elderly, the poor, the destitute and the dumb animals.

Anjani and Jayantha Karunaratne

Kandy