Sofia’s Stray Dog Problem Caused By Ex-guards?

This article outlining the ongoing problem of aggressive stray dogs in Bulgaria contains a clue as to perhaps why Sofia’s streets dogs are aggressive to the point of killing one man. A spokesperson for an animal rights group says that corrupt practices in the sterilization program to boost catching squads’ income have not helped but interestingly also points out that the economic situation has resulted in the abandonment of guard dogs from closed-down construction yards. Dogs trained to be aggressive to human strangers are unlikely to live peacefully in a large city full of unknown people. This combined with the role of facilitated aggression whereby dogs will follow the lead of other dogs’ reactions to people and you can quickly get a situation of intimidating packs of confrontational dogs. It is hard to imagine that these abandoned guard dogs form a high percentage of the city’s strays but it would only take a few to create enough of a problem for this to be presented as the norm in the media.

If it is the case then, rather than targeting all stray dogs, a relatively quick way to reduce the problem might be to identify the most immediately aggressive dogs and remove them from the streets thereby removing the trigger that sets off the other, less tempermental, strays.

This would just require some careful observation of the reaction of a group of dogs to being approached by a stranger. Which is the first dog to show signs of aggression? Such information is probably already known by people living in the area. Unfortunately, it would also require a genuine interest in solving the problem and lack of corrupt practices amongst the catching squads.

Outlawing the Sellers to Reduce Pet Abandonment

According to this article, there are so many pets getting abandoned in Louisiana that the state is making the commonplace selling of pets along roadsides, in parks and other public areas illegal. It is felt that these vendors make impulse-buying too easy, which all too frequently results in the eventual abandonment of the animal after the realities of pet ownership sink in. The aim is to ensure that buying a pet is always a considered decision.

My experience of Thailand suggests that this is also a major problem here (and presumably elsewhere as well). Many markets have adorable fluffed up puppies for sale with vendors only interested in making a sale not in the animal’s long-term welfare. Then an estimated 30,000 pet dogs get abandoned to the streets of Bangkok every year. I am convinced there is a very strong link here.

It is perhaps a shame to have to be restrictive in this way but the general public has shown that it can’t be trusted so well done Louisiana for setting an example.

Did Working With Dogs Give Us The Edge Over Neandertals?

This article in American Scientist presents an interesting theory that working with wolves/early dogs gave modern humans the edge over Neandertals during the 10,000 year overlap of the two living together in Europe and the middle east. Using modern-day evidence to show that hunting efficiency improves with the aid of dogs plus evidence that early dogs were associated with modern human campsites but not Neandertal campsites, the author surmises that it was these canines that meant the human population “grew so rapidly that it overwhelmed Neandertals with its sheer numbers”.

But why did the wolves/early dogs work with modern man rather than Neandertals? The author’s theory is that it might have been due to the whites of our eyes (the sclerae) which are uniquely ubiquitous amongst people and make it much easier to follow eachother’s gaze. This could have given modern humans an advantage in silent communication whilst hunting and this could have included early dogs as well given that dogs have been shown to have a particular talent for reading our gaze direction. However, this theory depends on the lack of white sclerae in Neandertals for which there is no evidence one way or the other at present.

Cruel Stray Dog Control in Mauritius

This article from the Daily Mail is a damning account of the dog control program on the island of Mauritius where the catching, storing and killing methods as reported are very cruel and the catchers apparently all too keen to include pets in their daily catch in order to reach their quota of over 100 dogs a day.

With no rabies on the island the stray dog control program is supposedly to protect the tourism trade but this article suggests there isn’t actually a conflict between the dogs and the tourists.

The Mauritian Government may have their own side of the story but if this account is given wider publicity in the UK, from where around 200,000 tourists travel to Mauritius every year, then they will probably do far more damage to their own tourism industry than the stray dogs ever did.

Man Shot, Stray Dogs to Blame

Bulgarian stray dogs have been in the news recently due to their attacks on people, which have now resulted in the death of one man. There have been increasingly vociferous calls for them to be “dealt with” and heated debate between animal welfare organizations and those wanting a quick solution, which have dragged the Prime Minister into the fray.

And now another man is in hospital thanks to the dogs. Or at least, thanks to the stray dogs making themselves a target for a man to shoot at who then accidentally hit his neighbor instead.

As yet I have only seen sensational media reports and am looking forward to what I would call a neutral account of the stray dog situation in Sofia, one that unbiasedly describes the current situation and provides some clues as to how it might have developed. For example, abandoned pets that regularly get kicked or shot at would understandably have an aggressive attitude towards people. 

They clearly do seem to have a stray dog problem in Bulgaria but only blaming the dogs is unlikely to point the way to a long-term solution.

A Visitor’s Experience of Sri Lanka’s Stray Dogs

This is the sort of experience with stray dogs that I like to read about. This blogger/photographer, Lester Picker, visited Sri Lanka and posted about the “considerable number of dogs” he found everywhere. His blog starts with the typical attitude of seeing a “feral dog problem” but his final paragraph reads:

“None of the dogs I saw were aggressive in any way. Instead, they sometimes come up to you, tail between their legs, looking for scraps of food. Most will adopt a family and just hang out around their homes, if they are in a rural area. In towns and cities, the dogs will hang around parks or in front of shops. People do not seem to mind at all and never once did I see a person shooing a dog away. Peaceful coexistence ala Buddhism.”

This is the more open-minded view of stray dogs in tropical areas I wish more people would take. It’s not always so peaceful and maybe he stills thinks they are a problem but these traditional village dogs that have not been badly treated and therefore are not aggressive to people are a great advertisement for others of their ilk. And this is just what most visitors would see if they opened their eyes more.