Times of India Menaces Stray Dogs

The Times of India regularly publishes stories about the “stray dog menace” in various towns and cities around the country. The pattern is always the same, describing incidents of harassment by stray dogs, how terrified the local residents are of going outside and how the authorities have done nothing to solve the issue. And then further down the article something is mentioned about dogs eating garbage.

The latest version is about Merces in Goa (here) entitled “Merces residents in the grip of stray dog menace” but I suggest it should more accurately be called “Merces residents in the grip of garbage disposal menace”. They clearly identify garbage lying in residential areas and food waste thrown from cars as the reason for the number of dogs living there increasing and yet the calls are still for direct action on the dogs.

India has already had more than one experience of what happens when a stray dog population supported by garbage is culled: there is an explosion in the rat population with subsequent health risks. The only long-term solution to the problem is better waste management and although the authorities clearly have a significant role in this it should be noted that the whole human population, including those complaining about the dogs, also have the power to be more careful with their waste disposal.

The Times of India also has a role to play and a change in emphasis from “dog menace” to “garbage menace” would be a great start.

But then exactly the same could be said of The Hindu (see here) and other newspapers.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)