National Dog Day:26 August:-The 12,000 years-old friendship in danger!
Comedian Kapil Sharma in his recent comedy show highlighted the problems being faced by street or community dogs in India. His guest, Bhojpuri actor and Member of Parliament, Ravi Kishan also stressed that he would introduce a bill in Loksabha to make stringent provisions against atrocities on animals.
Meanwhile, a video of popular TV actor Karan Patel, who has been shooting abroad for ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ reality show, went viral on social media, threatening the culprits of the Mumbai dog Lucky’s murder of dire consequences.
Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma has already launched a social media campaign with #JusticeForAnimals hashtag. She has demanded amendment in the outdated 1960 Animals Law. Few other actors are also thinking likewise, including Sonam Kapoor, Jacquelin Fernandez, Irrfan Khan and John Abraham.
Centuries old friendship
In the beginning, humans first started raising dogs. There is evidence that more than 12,000 years ago, the early man started keeping dogs with them for hunting, security and companionship. Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a subspecies of Gray wolf (Canis lupus) and is related to foxes and jackals. With the help of genetic engineering, man developed more than 400 distinct breeds of dogs to fulfill his needs.
Where’s the problem?
The life of street or community dogs is in grave danger now. While, dog-bite cases are on the rise in urban areas, there is also shortage of rabies vaccine in hospitals. Population of dogs is growing leaps and bounds, thanks to the casual attitude of government machinery in carrying out sterilization programme. It is estimated that there are more than 30 crore dogs in India. Birth control in community dogs is totally human’s responsibility, dogs have no control over it. Because of heavy traffic, homeless dogs are meeting with accidents on the roads every day. Above to it, there are mindless people who hurt these animals, dislocate them from their birth place and even poison them. Pet dogs also have their share of problems. Many irresponsible people abandon their pets in unknown areas, chain them tightly or sometimes starve them in cramped places.
What are the Reasons
A few decades ago things were quite fine. However, expansion of multi-storey buildings, smart cities and technology has spoilt the situation. In high-rise housing societies, people do not have interaction with the community dogs. They do not even know whether the dogs are hungry or thirsty. These buildings have no designated place for community dogs. Earlier, dogs survived on thrown away food, but nowadays garbage is also not available. Trees, ponds, hand pumps are also missing from the urban landscape. Despite facing such hardships, some ruthless people hurt these dogs. Social media is abuzz with cruelty against community dogs.
The animal, man once gave the status of his best friend is now seen as a nuisance. Ironically, every day millions of tons of leftover food is dumped in garbage, but not a single piece of it reaches to the hungry humans or dogs. People nowadays do not offer even a piece of bread to a hungry dog; on the contrary many people cause them physical injury, while these poor animals are completely dependent on humans for their survival.
Time to amend the laws
The need of the hour is to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and make the punishments harsher. Currently offenders get away by paying few bucks as a penalty. “It is necessary to have severe punishment for hurting or killing any dog. Also, every colony and housing society should allocate a safe place for community dogs to take shelter and to have food and water. If each house gives a piece of bread, none of the community dogs will ever sleep hungry,” says Narvijay Yadav, President – Chandigarh Chapter of Bloggers Alliance.
Awareness is required
NGO’s, volunteers and administration should create awareness among people. Government should enact strict laws and ensure proper sterilization and vaccination of community dogs. Dogs cannot control their population by themselves. Humans will have to make arrangements for this. Celebrities should also create awareness. People, instead of buying expensive dogs from pet shops, should adopt abandoned dogs available in foster homes. Comedian Kapil Sharma himself has adopted few abandoned dogs.
National Dog Day
National Dog Day is celebrated on 26 August every year. It was started in 2004 by Colleen Paige, a US pet expert. The day is to spread awareness and highlight the problems of both pet and street dogs. On this day, animal lovers should give gifts to their pets and community dogs. If you do not have a pet, you can offer food to the dogs in your locality. Dogs have been an integral part of human society. If the dogs are happy then there will be an atmosphere of happiness and friendship all around the society.
National Dog Day:26 August:-The 12,000 years-old friendship in danger!
Tips for people
People should offer bread, biscuits, leftover food and water to the dogs living on the roadside. Always carry a packet of biscuits in your car, bike or bag. If you can not give anything to feed, then at least treat the animals with affection and kindness. If you are afraid of dogs then do not make eye contact with them and stay at a safe distance. Do not hurt animals under any circumstances. If someone is seen harassing a dog, make a complaint to the police, municipality, NGO’s or animal lovers. Many groups and pages of animal lovers are active on Facebook, such as @JoyForAnimals, @Bombay AnimalRights and @Dogitization etc. Join them and share important posts. Remember, a pet dog is not a toy, but a living person just like you. Do not tease your pet and do not abandon it under any circumstances. If you can’t keep the pet dog with you, get it adopted by some dog lover family. If a dog is left abandoned at an unknown place, other dogs can make his life miserable. Pets are a lifelong responsibility, not a one day entertainment. Be kind to animals. Be a responsible citizen.
