Whenever I visited the US I used to go to the house of my son's friend in Naperville, Chicago, and the remembrance of my trips to that friend's house would be incomplete, without a mention about his dog,called Mango. The beauty of Mango is its craving for caressing, as the cats normally yearn for. It would come and sit near me and keep its head in my lap and expect me to caress its head. Whenever I stopped doing that, it would take my hand and keep it on its head for caressing. It hardly used to bark. Nor would it unnecessarily wag its tail. All that was wanted was, caressing.
There are as many dog lovers around the world, as there are lovable pet dogs too. In fact, my love for dogs stops with Mango, because keeping any pets at home is a greater responsibility and my wife and I do not want to be irresponsible managers of pets. However my reluctance to keep pet dogs cannot exclude the fact that of all animals, dogs constitute a trinity of intelligence, sensitivity, and gratitude, which quite a lot of us are found to be lacking.
Today the presence of a huge population of dogs, especially stray dogs, has become a burning issue knocking even at the doors of the courts, for judiciary intervention. Debates are also going on as television shows, involving the pros and cons of the increase in dog population, especially that of the stray dogs, indulging in a kind of gang war.Their nocturnal barking causes extreme nuisance to elders and the ailing.Besides they keep biting pedestrians especially children and interfere with vehicular movement mostly that of two wheelers,resulting in many accidents that end up in fatality too.
We are living in fast changing times.We happen to face challenging woes,engulfing a vast section of humanity living under pressures of meeting their daily needs.They are facing divisive factors of various kinds, hitting them on their faces, and from behind. To keep the body and mind at ease, seems to be the foremost priority now.
Without prejudice to lovers of pets of all kinds,and without hatred against any living beings, it should be reasonably stated that routine risks in each one's life have to be addressed with due concern for all, including dogs,and those who are seriously affected by dogs.
The local administration cannot be expected to bear the entire brunt of a paradoxical issue combing physical danger coupled with emotional empathy. Good sense should prevail upon everybody to accept that emotional empathy cannot be exclusively stuck to love for dogs, but it should also include sympathy for fellow human beings.
Avoidance of public feeding of dogs by owners of pet dogs, and prevention of a conglomerate of pet dogs and street dogs, will do a lot of good as a first step in not giving room for dog menace, rising from the side of dog lovers. Sterilization of dogs, creation of more dog centers could be left to the management of the municipal forums. Rich dog lovers can part with a monthly sum for the municipal maintenance of dogs. If funding cannot be relied upon, dog fodders can be liberally donated on a monthly basis.
The basic principle of life is "live and let others live" and not the slogan 'survival of the fittest'. Not all of us are animal or bird haters. In fact, animal lovers are more in number. But the problem is, a minority people among these lovers, claim their rights over those of others and try to exploit the social media and debate forums, by even comparing dogs crossing the roads, to children doing the same. If parents are expected to take care of their wards, does not the same expectation apply to dog lovers too? Let not our dogged love for dogs, make us monstrous haters of fellow human beings. To conclude in a nutshell, nuisance today is more from a fanatic section of upholders of pet theories, rather than from real pets.
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