The Dog Busters

China, where every dog had its final day!

Chinese get rid of 50,000 dogs in 5 days [Associated Press, Aug 1, 2006]. It appears that the owners were given 63 cents if they destroyed the dogs themselves. How did they come up with this number? Perhaps that is the limit of their budget.

I am not a great dog fan, bitten twice once in Australia and once in Brazil. In both cases, the animals bit me because they were maltreated by their owners or others. But still I think the Chinese over reacted.

In Western countries dogs are pampered, and in the east they are mostly neglected (this is coming from my Indian background). They are stray dogs; stay & live on the streets. Quite often you find them sleeping on their favorite manhole cover, or a little patch of their choice municipal gutter. They do seek human company. I used to be followed by a dog till I reached home everyday returning from school.

I am sure rabies must be quite common in India as well. In Bangalore, where I come from, you can find stray dogs everywhere. My brother is regularly attacked by dogs when he rides his scooter. The municipal dog catchers do come once in a while and catch them. But I do not know what happens thereafter. I believe they have some kind of a dog pound. Only recently human beings are appreciated for their economic potential and getting recognized. The dog, if it can show its potential will have its day.

All this does not mean that there are no dog lovers in India. It's just that there aren’t enough of them to take care of all these strays. We do have an active SPCA in all cities and towns.