(Kind attn: Residents of Song of Joy, Gera Greensville)

In every co-op housing society, a gated community, or any locality where humans live we come across repeated such complaints of increasing “street dog menance”.

People have complaints. Understandable. Not everyone can love dogs / animals like we do. Understandable – But intellect, compassion and empathy are attributes which makes us all humans – suuposedly above all the animal kingdom.

While the word “menace” itself is arguable, it can be split down into following sources

  1. Dog population
  2. Dog barking and aggression
  3. Fear of dog bites, fear of dogs in general
  4. Fear of infection with dog bound diseases like rabies

But we need you to understand that like many other civic issues in India, this issue also needs YOUR help without which government bodies cannot function.

Let’s understand actionable items for all of the above

Dog population

  1. Report fertile dog to animal birth control (ABC) volunteers in your locality
  2. You can report to PMC helpline – PMC will delegate this to authorised pounds who conduct sterilisations
  3. PMC will pick up the dog and after operation drop it back to same location where they picked up from
  4. It is must that a volunteer is involved for supervision & execution
  5. Dogs are territorial. One alpha dog does not encroach other alpha dog’s territory and hence sterilising dogs can stabilise their population in an area
  6. In the long run, aggressive implementation of dog sterilisation & vaccination has been dictated upon the government bodies, to curb dog population. Pune alone spends over 2 Cr on such operations.

Dog barking and aggression

  1. It is important to understand why dogs bark and may turn aggressive
  2. Top reasons are hunger and insecurity or a sense of threat
  3. Nursing dog mothers bark because they try to secure their young ones
  4. Hungry dogs bark because they are hungry and cant find food
  5. The best you can do is leave some food for them, some good meals, dog food – no salt or sugar or bones please – left over rice, chapatis, work very well
  6. You will see that feeding dogs not only reduces their anxiety and aggression but they also become friendly to humans and start trusting them – this becomes very important when a dog has to be caught for sterilisation or on-spot medical treatment

Fear of dog bites, fear of dogs in general

  1. You might be afraid of dogs, which evolves into digust as you grow older
  2. Firstly – make sure you dont pass on your fears to your children
  3. We teach children, not to be scared of the dark, be careful from traffic etc – to be careful with dogs, to love them should be one such teaching
  4. Do understand that dogs have their rights too, there are people who work for them – we are their voice – right to space and right to live – let them be – leave them alone – they wont bother you if you dont bother them
  5. We have encroached upon spaces which belonged to them once upon a time, be loving and respectful to animals – cows and dogs alike
  6. Educate yourself on how to approach dogs, understand their body language – and guess what – its not rocket science
  7. If nothing works – cool – let them be and let you be !
  8. If ever you can overcome your fear of dogs, you will be gifted with pure unconditional love – difficult to find even in human offsprings

Fear of infection with dog bound diseases like rabies

  1. It is easy to identify diseased dog – if you spot one, inform the volunteers in your area who can arrange for medication and rescue as the need be
  2. It is also in the role of PMC to administer vaccines to community dogs
  3. Not all dog bites result into rabies infection or any serious injury – there is no reason to fear
  4. If at all you are bitten, anti rabies shots (4) are quick and easy with no side effects
  5. If you read some news on social media of dog bite cases, try and find the reason behind them, analyse them AFTER you have established that the news is NOT fake

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“CO-EXISTENCE” is the magic word here. We live in a country where street dogs exist, and it is us who have encroached upon the land of birds & animals. The least we can do is – Live and Let live.

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Role of the PMC : to come , pick up unsterelised street dogs in the presence of a volunteer , take them to the pound, get them operated , vaccinated and dropped back to the exact same location where they were picked up from , again in the presence of a volunteer.

Role of Volunteer : to coordinate with PMC / private vets who do surgeries at minimal cost for pick up and drop of street/community dogs, to arrange for medication and rescues of ailing dogs

We, Tina and Ameya, would request , residents of Gera Greensville, Song of Joy , to help us help you.

We are trying our best to befriend the dogs and in turn allowing them to trust us. Once they trust us , it will be possible for us to transport them to get them sterelised and vaccinated. Once sterelised , they will not multiply and everyone will live in peace 🙂

We are on the look out for volunteers for the same , especially those of you who have dogs at home and understand the sentiment . Please come forward and help us help you, together we can do much more!

REMINDER : THE LAW

Please do understand that relocation of domiciled dogs is not permitted as per the Supreme Court order dated 23.2.3009 in SLP no 691 of 2009, and order dated 6.2.2013 in SLP no 4453 of 2013, and order dated 10.5.2013 in SLP no 17112 of 2013 – dislocation, ie picking up dogs from one place and leaving is not permitted by the Supreme Court order.
Under the Central Law as laid down in the Stray Dog Management Rules of 2001, it is illegal for any individual or even Government Office to remove or relocate dogs. Complaints if any, should be directed to a local animal welfare organization or the appointed Animal Welfare Officers. The dogs that are picked up for sterilizations have to be dropped back in the same area. In the case of vaccinated and sterilized dogs they cannot ever be removed by the Municipality.