Stray Dog Attacks Girl But The Devil’s In The Detail

The Hindu newspaper reports a nasty incident of a six-year-old girl being “suddenly attacked, without any provocation” by a stray dog. The dog bit her face leaving severe injuries including several broken teeth before being chased away by local residents who heard her cries. The Hindu then says no more about the incident beyond the hospital treatment she received leaving the reader with the impression that any street dog could be capable of launching such an attack at any time.

The Times of India newspaper similarly reports on this case confirming the injuries the girl suffered but then fortunately also includes some details that give clues as to why this particular dog attacked this particular girl.

Apparently the girl regularly gave biscuits and snacks to stray dogs in the streets around her home but this dog was new to the area and unknown to her. The attack happened after she gently patted its head. It would be unfair on the girl to say that this amounted to provocation but from the dog’s point of view this was exactly what it was given the details that follow. Locals explained that the dog had been chased out of a neighboring slum (for reasons unstated), was ravenous but had been attacked by other dogs when trying to scavenge food, and finally that local schoolchildren had attacked it with stones. Given this recent history it is no surprise that it aggressively defended itself when approached and touched by the girl.

Of course I do not blame the girl whose intentions were purely friendly but neither do I blame the dog. To me this story highlights three points: that children need to be educated to be wary of unknown dogs; that cruel treatment of dogs will produce an aggressive animal; and that lazy journalism does not serve society well.

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)