In the absence of proper protection in the form of a shed and the centres in the city is overburdened, the position of dog menace is going from bad to worse. Number of dogs have risen especially in residential complexes and the market places and causing nuisance to the public. The menace is going out of hand and there is no one to discourage the people feeding these stray dogs. If the animal activists are really worried about the street dogs then they will have to adopt some of them and feed them at home. Instead, the people suffer because of dog bites and the barking at nights and unless dog population is arrested, the city will never have a permanent problem. It is time to catch the stray dogs and sterilise to avoid pregnancy. Dog menace and rat menace is causing concern. Even though there are methods to catch hold of these animals, less attention is paid and disease like rabies is spreading all over the breath and width of Mumbai.
I think street dog menace in the Metro city typifies the hypocrisy of the commercial capital. The so called animal lovers of our city cannot take care of these stray dogs and they cannot prevent the creatures from harassing pedestrians and passersby, but they resist the simple efficient, common-sense solution of liquidation of these unfortunate creatures. Many street dogs do not tolerate outside dogs, a few of which are pedigreed, and walked by their owners with a leash. The street dogs chase and howl and snarl at the pets, almost provoking them to break free from the leash and retaliate. The ugly dog fights that result in raucous snarls and howls filling in the air, are hardly what senior citizens and other walkers need early morning or in the evening. Sometimes, passersby end up getting bitten.
My request to dog lovers is that if you do not want these dogs eliminated in a quick and efficient manner, for their own good and that of the society, why don’t you shelter them in their own homes, and lavish love and care on them to your hearts’ content? It also intrigues me that animal lovers eat and enjoy meat, which means the slaughter of innocent animals and yet they profess love for all four legged creatures.
The city has been facing lot of problems from stray dogs for years. Too many wander in the area during night and create panic among children and old people. When children run away from that place for safety, the dogs chase and bite some of them. Morning walkers feel the pinch very much and some of them will have to stop their walking schedule. The bye-lanes of the city are having stray dogs. They chase the vehicles coming in their way and two wheelers have a hell of a time. The dogs keep barking throughout night and disturb the sleep as well. BMC should take some appropriate steps to get rid of stray dog problem. Some housing societies did not care much about the presence of stray dogs inside the premises of building, conceiving and delivering inside the premises area. They spoil the internal maintenance as well with attending to nature’s call at the prime places in the building.
It is a common sight to see dog owners taking their dogs out in the early mornings or late evenings or anytime they like to respond to their nature’s call on the roads and making the roads filthy. This regular practice of dogs’ peeing or shitting on the roads as well as inside residential complexes has to stop. It is time now that the owners should know how to handle the poo habits of their pets and at the same time take proper responsibility of their pets. Let it be loudly known that it is just not tolerable to let the pets out to litter on the roads, let alone other nuisances to the neighbourhood and even threat to others’ life emanating from these dogs and their stylish lovers. Better council should prevail in dealing with dog menace.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
