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.
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