Stray Dogs Learning to Drive

As shown in the above video clip, New Zealand’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has trained 3 rescued stray dogs to drive a car with the aim of encouraging adoption by proving “how intelligent they are”.

As a publicity stunt it certainly works, being exactly the type of story that the media love (at the time of writing, the clip already had well over 2 million views on YouTube). What saddens me is that the SPCA had to pander to our humanising view of dogs in order to get their point across. There is surely already no lack of evidence to illustrate that dogs have great and useful talents and that being a stray or mongrel in no way diminishes this fact. A careful look at the dogs’ “driving” actually shows just how limited it is and how unsuited the animals are to the task. They are totally reliant on the handler’s repeated commands and use very few actions. Undoubtedly an achievement for both trainer and dog but this is far from the independent driving that some claim and the best that can be said for it is that they keep well within the speed limit.

On the other hand the real world is increasingly full of examples of how dogs (yes, even strays and mongrels!) can perform an amazing variety of helpful tasks from guiding the visually-impaired and somehow being able to predict seizures in people to search-and-rescue to locating truffles and even helping researchers find killer whale faeces! Dogs are ready, able and very willing to be helpful, it just needs the effort to train them and the imagination to realise what they can do.

I like the fact that the SPCA are trying to promote adoption of strays and mongrels, which I see as necessary to counter all the propaganda we have been fed by breed societies over the years, but I do feel a little ashamed for the general public that it has to be done this way.

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)

Not Solving the Indian Stray Dog Problem (Again)

Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that authorities with a role in solving the stray dog problem in India have little chance of making much headway because they simply do not understand the problem. This story in The Times of India relates how the Law Department in Thiruvananthapuram “has come up with a solution to end the stray dog menace in the state” by the “setting up of kennel habitats in all cities to rehabilitate stray dogs”.

Perhaps the report unfairly represents the Department’s simplistic view but the suggestion is an apparent commitment to house (all?) stray dogs in kennels for perhaps 4-5 years each. Apart from the logistical and financial problems of such an idea, the main sticking point is that it does not actually address the reasons why there are so many street dogs in the first place. Waste management is always a big problem in Indian cities which means that edible rubbish is readily available to support the dogs and that if the dogs are removed they will be replaced with rotting garbage or a rat population explosion. Coupled with this is the fact that many of the dogs are not born on the street but are abandoned pets or unsold puppies dumped by unscrupulous breeders, which means that the task of clearing the streets of strays would never actually end.

It may seem counter-intuitive but the best way to solve the stray dog problem in India is not to target the stray dogs themselves but rather the pet dog industry plus find a more efficient waste management system. If this is ever done they will probably find that the few remaining street dogs are not actually a problem and can comfortably live as part of the community as they have been doing for thousands of years.

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)

Incomplete High Court Guidance on Bangalore’s Stray Dogs?

A High Court in Bangalore has issued clear directions to reduce the stray dog “menace” in the city. The report I read (here) does not include full details but basically the following two quotes seem to cover two key elements:

“…the nuisance caused by stray dogs would be in due course of time be [sic] automatically eradicated if the animal welfare organisations strictly implement the ABC Rules, 2001, and perform their duties by vaccinating and sterilising the strays”.

“…ensure that there is no accumulation of garbage on the streets”.

I agree with this as far as it goes but to me there seems to be an absolutely vital element missing. As I reported here a year ago many of Bangalore’s stray dogs are not born on the street, they are abandoned either as pets or unsold puppies from sellers. Given this, vaccinating and sterilising strays will not “automatically eradicate” the problem as the court suggests. Perhaps the full judgement does also point the finger of blame at pet owners and the pet trade industry but I doubt it.

Without targeting owners and traders, Bangalore (and elsewhere) will always have a stray dog problem and more canines will suffer through no fault of their own.

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)

Rubbish, Stray Dogs and Leopards

In this blog I have often talked about the link between poorly managed refuse and high populations of stray dogs. In many places the real problem that urban residents face is not actually the dogs that are so readily blamed and targeted but people’s own waste disposal methods (or lack thereof) which support the dogs in the first place and would remain a problem even if the dogs were removed. A story about Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in India takes the problem an extra level (more detail here).

SGNP is close to the city of Mumbai and has numerous human settlements around its boundary. It also has a healthy population of leopards who have become a problem by wandering out of the Park and thereby coming into direct conflict with people. So far this year six people have been killed in the area by leopards.

A project to reduce the conflict, which studied the leopards’ movements amongst other aspects, has clearly highlighted the link between poor garbage management and leopards coming into close proximity with people. The connection between the two is the stray dogs (and to some extent other animals such as cats, pigs and cattle) that feed on the edible rubbish and provide an enticing source of prey to the leopards. Once encouraged into the area by the presence of dogs they will find opportunities to prey on people.

The obvious conclusion to prevent future human deaths is for people to manage their garbage more efficiently in order to reduce the stray dog population over the long-term.

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)

Horrific Dog Attack Revisited

Whilst looking for stories about feral dogs I came across a survival website (here) with information about how to protect yourself from feral dogs that included a brief summary of a story about the brutal killing of an elderly couple by a pack of dogs in Lexington (Georgia, USA). Given the nature of that particular website I didn’t quite believe all the details in their account so searched for other sources (such as here) which gave more reliable and fuller information.

Briefly, back in 2009 a 65-year-old woman was mauled to death by a pack of at least 11 dogs and then her 77-year-old husband was similarly killed when he went out looking for her. Most of the accounts that I have read have not tried to explain what actually caused the attack but one interviewed scientist in a CNN report (here) speculated that something as simple as prolonged eye-contact could have made one of the dogs feel threatened putting the whole pack on edge which could then have escalated into a vicious attack particularly if the victim had continued looking at them or otherwise reacted to them. Given the lack of witnesses there is always going to be doubt but I have another suggestion that could be an addition or even an alternative to the idea of an unfortunate gaze.

But first, here are a few more details. The 11 (or more) dogs suspected of the attack lived around an empty house in this rural area where the owner, who had moved away about a month earlier for health reasons, came to feed them every other day. These dogs were free to roam as they wanted. They and their five puppies were caught and euthanized fairly quickly after the discovery of the dead couple’s bodies but one (or two) dogs remained loose in the area. The dead woman used to take her eight pet dogs for walks in the area but one of them had been missing for about a month. On this day she was alone. The man who fed the dogs was not charged with any offence at least partly because he did not officially “own” them.

Most reports suggest that these dogs were feral but, although I can’t be sure of the exact relationship between them and the man who fed them, perhaps “pet dogs on the loose” would be a more accurate description and one report did describe them as his pets. This could make a difference to how the dogs viewed people. My suspicion is that the pack of 11 (or more) dogs were very familiar with the fact that another pack was living in the same area (the eight pet dogs PLUS their owner) at least by smell but probably also by sight and sound. An outright confrontation between such sizable groups would be risky for all and best avoided given that space was not an issue but what would happen if the larger pack met a single member of the other pack by itself? In my experience dog packs are not welcoming to outsiders and that could possibly have already been the fate of the missing pet dog. Particularly at a time when they were raising pups. If they were socialised to people then the woman would have been treated in the same way as one of her pet dogs would have been. It could thus have been inter-pack rivalry resulting in a deliberate attack on the woman who had little chance to either defend herself or flee.

This is speculation but to me it fits the description of the incident at least as well as than any other explanation, perhaps even better. I just dislike the immediate and automatic reaction of blaming the “wildness” of the dogs when perhaps the more significant reason actually lies somewhere in their socialisation to people. 

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)

Adopting Strays as Community Dogs

Here is a little project in India encouraging people to adopt stray dogs. Nothing unusual in that except that this group wants people to adopt strays as community dogs and leave them on the street. They use a particular stray dog called Popkorn who was adopted by market stallholders where it lives as an example and mascot.

Basically, the idea is that members of a community take responsibility for the dog(s) by providing both food and healthcare whilst in return the dog offers some companionship, waste disposal and a communal security alert. The dog also retains the freedom to decide its own movements, activities and choose with whom it interacts.

Throughout rural areas in many tropical and subtropical countries this is in effect what already happens with traditional village dogs but the relationship has largely been lost in urban areas. Perhaps formalising it and giving it a new name is the best way for it to work in cities where many people have unfortunately adopted the western attitude that unowned dogs are out of place.

One project member summed up the approach with, “get them treated if they are injured, get them immunised and then leave them in freedom. Adopt them as a community.”

I certainly hope that this approach continues to gain ground in urban areas wherever the local history has involved free-roaming dogs and people living happily together.

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)