Dogs are a man’s best friend. But sadly for many in India, this best friend comes with a price tag, because of the societal compulsion to get a pedigree dog to show one’s social status. According to the report titled, “State of Pet Homelessness Project”, released by pet food company Mars Petcare India, over 60 million homeless pets such as dogs and cats in India are living on the streets. With other socio-political human issues taking up the entirety of the newspaper, our best friends hardly get any recognition. Let’s try to understand the condition of today’s stray dogs through two case studies, i.e., Blacky and Biki.
The Tale of Blacky
Blacky’s day starts at around 9-10 am casually looking at the streets and staring at the passersby. At times he changes his spot from lazing in front of his favourite shop called ROG to the hardware store called, Mtech Services; which is right in front of ROG. He is not like your average dog who would accept pets and treats from every Tom, Dick and Harry. His days on the streets have taught him better than that. He doesn’t appreciate being touched, he won’t accept your treats when you’re staring at him. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t notice your affection, he just doesn’t like to look easy. A dog is almost always expected to be warm and friendly but Blacky is anything but that. But you know the weirdest thing? He never bites. He growls to let you know that he doesn’t appreciate the petting or the staring but he means no harm.
Normally many people ignore him for his not-so-typical friendly dog-like behaviour but the owner of ROG and a few other people who have managed to gain his trust adore him. Given his uncharacteristic behaviour, one can only speculate what hardships he must have endured to make him lose faith in all humanity. Yet he refuses to give up on living. Showing up one day out of the blue in 2012, Blacky continued to live his life in the best way he can on the streets of Taverekere, Bengaluru. Neglected, diseased but never beaten up by life, Blacky trudged on till 2024 probably never finding the comfort of a home.
The Tale of Biki
On the streets of Taverekere, Bengaluru there thrives another paw spirit, Biki. Unlike Blacky Biki is a laidback friendly dog. He doesn’t exactly jump on you or wag his tail when you meet but he enjoys your company which is evident by the way he doesn’t mind you petting his head or showering him with rubs. He graciously accepts all the food you give him, but there are days when he just walks around without having even a grain of rice to quench his hunger.
With puppy eyes and a golden heart, Biki roams around the streets hoping to one day be showered with all the love and affection that he deserves. Yet all he gets are a few pets here and there. Some leftovers in the trash or some biscuits left by passersby.
The Middlepoint
The similarity between the tales of Biki and Blacky are many but the one that stands out the most is the fact that they are creatures who deserve as much love as any other pet in the world. But sadly all they get are biscuits and passing pets as strays. It hurts to see them in this state, but it hurts your bank balance when you buy a dog instead of giving one a home. Sure they both are highly neglected, smelly and probably carry some germs, but choosing someone furry with a price tag, not only deprives a needy stray of a home but also leads to the vicious cycle of breeding. Sure there are many ethical breeders but backyard breeding is still highly prevalent in our country.
Putting these innocent pups through that life of illegal breeding seems like a nightmare but is the reality in many places. Buying from ethical breeders is not bad but you must first check how they are breeding the dogs and taking care of them before going ahead with them. But instead of getting a dog who might be unsuitable for Indian climates or not resistant to the diseases commonly found in dogs in India, consider adopting local dogs who are resistant to many of the diseases in India, are perfectly suitable for Indian climates and desperately need a home.
Rescuing strays is not a compulsion but a choice that truly could help many furry paws that need a home.
