Bangalore Stray Dogs 150 Years Ago

The Deccan Herald has published a historical report of how Bangalore was suffering from “the menace stray dogs posed to the public” 150 years ago as today. They are quoting from a district gazette in 1866 where the local British authorities were offering a bounty for every dead dog brought to them (twice as much for a bitch). Later the municipal authorities took over the killing duties themselves which lasted as the “control” policy until 2001 (the fact that it carried on so long does make one question the effectiveness of the technique).

What I find particularly interesting in the article is the British administration quote that allows people to keep the dogs alive: “Individuals desirous of preserving their dogs are requested to have them muzzled or tied up.” In the context of the article this seems to be suggesting adoption.

To me this looks like an early example of Western attitudes to dogs being exported eastward. In effect the British assumption was that dogs should be pets, not free-ranging animals, but I suspect that at that time ownership really was a foreign concept for most of the population when it came to dogs.

The report clearly shows that the British Raj found the street dogs to be a problem but does not indicate what the native majority themselves thought. In some ways this hasn't changed much as the strength of western feeling on the stray dog issue easily overwhelms the general Asian indifference to their street dogs.