The Pampered Pets of Gurgaon

    I was born in a small village in Himachal where it was common for everyone to have pets of all sorts. Like all other children in the village, I too was a proud owner of a ferocious "Gaddi" shepherd dog "Sheru" and a lamb. I am using the term "owner" because 50 years back the term "pet parent" had not yet been coined. In addition to the exclusive ownership over these two, I also tried to extend my claims over the family cow "Kubja" and the two bulls "Laakhu" and "Kaalia". My lamb, whose name I am now forgetting was attacked by a leopard while grazing in the jungle however his body was rescued by 'Sheru" and brought back to the village by the graziers. I recall that regardless of my protests, my lamb was skinned and cooked for dinner although despite my fondness for meat, I refused to eat because it was my lamb on the plate. Suffice to say that like other children of my generation, I spent my childhood with pets and domestic animals and enjoyed a beautiful but a practical relation with them. The good thing about this relation was that despite all the love and affection, there was a certain degree of distance between the owners and the pets.

There was enough space for the pets to move around, they were independent and there was no need to keep them chained or confined to our small flats. Also, there was a huge variety in the species of pets as many children amongst us had free roaming dogs, cats, parrots, sparrows and squirrels as their friends. There was great benefit of having these pets as they taught the children the values of sharing, caring and compassion. The children of our generation as it is never felt alone because of large numbers of siblings and cousins however deficiency if any was filled by the presence of our pets. 

    As I moved to hostel and subsequently joined the National Defence Academy, my connect with the pets continued albeit at a much reduced scale. My younger brother brought in a mongrel called "Ruby" who stayed in our Paonta Sahib house for good 13 years. She was loved by all in the family but still she was not very demanding or pampered in any way. She ate whatever was given to her, slept on ground, was kept tied whenever guests were at home and was once in a while chastised if her behaviour called for it. In 1998, based on persistent demand from my children, we procured a pedigreed German Shepheard "Diana" who stayed with us as part of our family for nine years. Diana was the first pet in my life who got a few special privileges like premium quality dog food, safe chew toys, grooming kit, a proper bed and a tooth brush. Mostly she stayed with the family in big and open cantonments all over the country where she enjoyed a lot. However in one of my Delhi tenures, we stayed in a multi story apartment in the cantonment which she found extremely difficult to adjust. Due to safety concerns of our neighbours, we had to always keep her under leash and mostly confined other than occasional morning and evening walks. She just didn't like this change in way of her life and missed the leash free time with the children. Also, she often got cranky, barked more and snapped at people and other pets passing by. This experience of staying in a multi-storey housing society taught me the need for being a responsible pet owner and need for balance between the requirements of the pet and my neighbours. As we lost Diana to a liver ailment in 2007, we decided not to keep another pet realising that it is a serious responsibility requiring lot of time, dedication and effort.

    After my retirement in 2021, I came and settled down in a housing Society in Gurgaon where I volunteered for the job of President of the RWA. I found that  our Society like any other housing society in Gurgaon has large number of pets mostly dogs of exotic breeds. It is common to see German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Beagles, Pugs, Dachshunds, Pomeranians, and Labradors vying for attention and rubbing shoulders with each other. You can also meet an occasional Cocker Spaniel, Chihuahua,  Siberian Huskie, Shih Tzu,  Rottweiler, Doberman, Boxer, Great Dane, Dalmatian, Saint Bernard, Pit Bull and Chow Chow. Many of these dogs are highly domesticised and quite comfortable with their surroundings. Some of these especially the Golden Retrievers, Pugs, Labradors and Beagles are very popular and have made friends with other residents more so children of the Society. In addition to variety of dogs, Centrum Park also has a few cats and a rabbit or two as pets. In my opinion, in addition to providing companionship to their "pet parents", these  beautiful animals add value and colour to the entire Society. 

    On the lighter side, I think that some of these pets have great past "karmas" and are leading life of extreme luxury as they have personal trainers, go to spas for grooming sessions, are members of dog swimming pools. I am told that one session of spa bath, hair cut and personal grooming costs nearly Rs 2000/ in Gurgaon whereas a dip in the pool around Rs 500/. These are princely sums of money compared to what my mother spend on occasional grooming of Ruby which entailed giving her bath with the iconic washing soap "Rin". Incidentally Ruby always maintained an enviable coat of hair. Sometimes I also wonder as to who is the actual "Boss" these days? the dog or the owner? because mostly I find the dogs leading their owners during walks and taking them to the places they prefer irrespective of what the owner wants. Most of these modern day "pet parents" modify their timings and behaviours as per the requirements and habits of their pets.

Presence of large number of pets in the housing societies also have a flip side wherein there have been many incidents of dog bites especially in the enclosed spaces such as lifts. Many scary videos have recently been making rounds of such aggressive pet behaviour in the residential societies of the NCR. It is also seen that most of the pets are not registered with the municipal authorities and owners do not keep proper records of their sterilisation and vaccination. As per information shared by the MCG, a total of 100 dogs only had been registered in Gurgaon up to November 2022.  As President RWA, I have found it a big challenge to keep the lifts, lobbies, roads, basement and the green areas free of dog poo and pee.  Due to these problems there have been demands from the residents bodies to regulate the pet ownership in the housing societies.

    The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum Gurgaon while hearing a dog bite case in November 2022  issued a order to the MCG asking it to pay an interim compensation of ₹2 lakh to the female victim, besides asking the civic body to impound all community dogs. It further directed that licences be granted for a fee of at least ₹12,000 with a yearly renewal fee of not less than ₹10,000. The forum also banned 11 foreign breeds such as American Bulldog, Rottweiler, and Pit Bull Terriers. While this order is currently on stay by the High Court, it has forced the MCG to push the registration campaign and issue guidelines for the pets in the city. 

   In conclusion, I would like to say that  the number of pets in the housing societies of Gurgaon is only going to increase and so will the ensuing conflicts. There is thus a need to regulate the pet ownership in a manner that peace, harmony, co-existence, safety, health and hygiene are taken care of. The current set of guidelines issued by the MCG although well-intentioned are difficult to implement and will not have any impact on the ground. It is a social issue and requires involvement of all stakeholders for resolution. The following approach may work.

• MCG should issue pet friendly guidelines for regulations of pets.
• The responsibility to implement should be delegated to the RWAs.
• Education of all stakeholders i.e. the pet owners, RWA functionaries and MC workers is a must. This aspect can be taken care by the NGOs.
• Adequate facilities for sterilisation, vaccination and treatment of pets should be created by the MCG.
• Informal mechanisms led by the citizens for conflict prevention and resolution must be promoted by the Government. At present the smallest problems with social backdrop are being taken to the police which is not desirable.

          

Community Dogs of Centrum Park

The Beginning

Indiabulls Centrum Park is a residential society in Sector 103 of Gurugram spread over 23 acres having a population of nearly 4000. The Society didn’t have a proper boundary wall therefore during the construction stage, many stray dogs moved in and out of the Society looking for food and shelter being offered by many good Samaritans of the Society

As a result by February 2021 there were nearly 16 dogs within/close vicinity of the Society including a litter of 6 or 7 pups. The place of birth of these pups later became a serious point of contest between a NGO and the residents of the Society. All these dogs were being taken care off and fed by a small group of dedicated women hereafter being referred to as “The Feeders”. These dogs operated singly or in packs and doggedly protected their small territories from any form of incursion  The feeders had given them interesting names like Cutie, Bhuri, Candy, Choco, Gudiya, Golu, Sukdu etc. 

As there was no support from other stakeholders including the MCG, many of these dogs remained unvaccinated or were not neutered or spayed thereby posing a threat to the residents and their pets as also opening the possibilities of increase in their population. The Builder who controlled the Society, most of the residents and the newly elected RWA which I headed as President were oblivious of the situation and considered these dogs as a minor irritation or at best a source of slight discomfort. However as these pups started growing and population in the Society increased, minor problems related to these dogs started coming up.

Raging Conflict

In March 2021, the RWA pressurised the Builder to complete the fence and plug all the gaps in the boundary wall as per the design of the gated Society. Completion of the fence work had a serious impact on the lives of these stray dogs as some of them got left out of the Society premises and those within found their freedom to roam the fields curtailed. A dispute also commenced between the RWA and the feeders about the pack of 10 dogs which the feeders wanted to bring in to the gated premises of the Society. This was despite the fact that this pack had been allocated adequately protected adjoining space where all residents had the freedom to go and feed them as per their convenience.

In June 2021 with the support of People for Animals (PFA), the feeders approached the police and forced the RWA to open the gate and let this pack of dogs in. There was great hue and cry in the Society against this arbitrary action of the powerful NGO and the police. The residents came forward in a big numbers and complained to the MCG. This was followed by a number of meetings with the residents and RWA on one side and PFA and the feeders on the other side. During these parleys, I was exposed to the highly egoistic and power focussed approach of some of these social workers. I was also privileged to receive two calls from the Chairperson of PFA wherein our RWA was given veiled threats to toe the line of her troopers on ground. 

The situation deteriorated as the number of dogs within the gated complex now reached 16. The feeders were not able to feed them adequately and the hungry and agitated dogs started damaging property in search of food. As they were let free in the Society, there were large number of fights within themselves and with the pets. There were also constant fights between the residents and the feeders resulting in many of cases of physical assault and presence of police became a common feature in the Society. The feeders alleged that the RWA and the residents were ill treating the dogs and harassing the them whereas the residents felt that the feeders with the support of PFA had converted the Society into a stray dog arena with constant danger for the children and the elderlies. 

Even during these desperate times with so much differences of opinion with the feeders , I had noticed a great sense of compassion, sacrifice and dedication in most of the feeders and the residents thus giving me a hope that this vexed matter could be resolved peacefully. Therefore, we continued to engage the feeders and tried ways and means to minimise the conflicts by fixing feeding points, feeding timings, sleeping areas etc. An agreement was also reached with the feeders to shift the feeding point for the pack of 10 dogs out side Gate No 2, their original location with proviso to keep the gate open for them to move in/out at will. 

New-borns of Sukdu

In September 2021, the situation took a turn for the worse when Sukdu (meaning skinny ) one of the dames which had not been spayed got pregnant. Fortunately for us, Sukdu moved out of the Society and gave birth to a litter of 9 pups on the periphery of the Society. There were now demands from the feeders and the NGO representatives to bring the Sukdu and her litter inside the Society which were firmly refuted by the RWA although facilitating their feeding, vaccination, medical care and adoption. 

Sukdu feeding its pups

While on adoption of stray dogs, it is discouraging that while our Society has more than 200 -300 pets of exotic breeds, not one family came up to adopt any of these pups. During this process, I also learnt of that the great Indian bias for the male gender transcends to the canines too as despite best  efforts none of the female pups of Sukadu were adopted whereas three of the male pups found homes. I also took one beautiful and an adorable male pump to my house in Paonta Sahib, more about him later.

Towards Reconciliation

Unfortunately there was no support from any of the agencies of the Government be it the Animal Welfare Board of India, the State Government or the MCG to help us find a solution to this complex problem. As a result, the uneasy relation between the feeders, pet owners, residents and the RWA continued well into 2022 despite formation of an Animal Welfare Committee as per the guidelines of Delhi High Court.  Although, the RWA and feeders started collaborating more wherein the RWA took many initiatives to provide for shelter, feeding and treatment of the dogs.

I also observed that many residents came forward to feed the dogs so as to help resolve the issue. One of our resident vets helped us in pro bono vaccination and treatment of all the dogs including the pups. I also along with some other members of the RWA occasionally started feeding the dogs and surprisingly found it to be a very  satisfying and a therapeutic activity. It also exposed me to the softer side of these canines and their urge for love, friendship and compassion. 

An unaccepted breakthrough happened on 01 March 2022 when I got a call from one of the feeders informing me that an independent interlocutor who wishes to remain anonymous with background in animal welfare was willing to help broker an agreement between the RWA and the feeders to resolve the issue. I willingly accepted the offer as I was very keen to reconcile because this avoidable conflict and tension was not helping anyone  including the poor animals. Next day, during the meeting between the RWA and the feeders he managed to make us all agree to move the biggest pack of dogs outside Gate No 2 which was their original feeding point, to keep 3 dogs  within the Society as community dogs and Sukdu along with its pups to stay in the new location adjacent to the Society Powerhouse. The RWA also agreed to provide all possible assistance in helping the feeders to take care of the dogs.

The amicable agreement between the RWA and the feeders came as a big relief for the RWA, for me personally and the entire Society. Following benefits have occurred from this agreement: -

• There has been no conflict related to the community dogs and police has never visited our Society after this. 
• The feeders are taking care of the dogs without any hindrance from anyone.
• All the dogs have been neutered/spayed/vaccinated and there is no possibility of further increase in their population.
• Proper shelter and feeding is being provided and 16 community dogs (3 inside and 13 in the vicinity) are in good health.

Conclusion

With years of experience in conflict resolution background, I found myself in deep sea while dealing with this complex issue involving multi stakeholders. I  realised that the Government and its agencies do not have time and resources to deal with such problems whereas NGOs may be having vested interests hence it is the  responsibility of the affected communities to show maturity and compassion to resolve such internal conflicts. We need to have inherent faith in the goodness of human character and have to keep the channels of communications and dialogue always open for things to progress.

The Pariah Dogs of India

 

Background

When I was young, it was an accepted norm to  put the stray dogs to sleep to control their population and caged municipal vehicles carrying these poor animals was a common sight. I don’t know how it was done but I assume it must be poisoning and it must be very painful for the most loyal friend of the humans. 

As I researched a little, I learnt that this practice was a legacy of the British who killed stray dogs due to the threat of rabies as it was widespread in British India, and treatment of bite victims imposed a major financial burden on the colonial Government. The earliest recorded case of dog killing is of 1791 in Kolkata wherein 4 annas were awarded for every dog that was killed. According to a report, in 1913, 3003 male dogs, 2957 female dogs and 392 pups were killed in Madras. The dogs were killed by electrocution and their meat fed to the zoo animals while their skins were sold. Despite the extreme fear of rabies, the native Indians did not overwhelmingly support the killing of dogs, in fact in 1932, the Parsis in Bombay rioted against the indiscriminate killing of dogs by the British. 

The Present Situation 

India is still endemic for rabies, and accounts for 36% of the world’s rabies deaths. True burden of rabies in India is not fully known; although as per available information, it causes 18 000-20 000 deaths every year. About 30-60% of reported rabies cases and deaths in India occur in children under the age of 15 years as bites that occur in children often go unrecognized and unreported 

After independence, killing of dogs continued for a few years however with the passing of the “The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (PCA)” and with active involvement of many NGOs the practice slowly stopped resulting in significant increase in their population.  

It Is a common sight to see large packs of stray dogs roaming the streets of Indian cities, towns and villages. They are present in every nook and corner including government offices, educational institutions, religious places, military cantonments and gated hoisting societies. Most of these are in a poor state of health especially the lactating mothers and it is a pity to see them foraging for food and being abused. Unfortunately a large number of people are bitten by stray dogs across the country every year. As per data provided to the Lok Sabha, in the first six months of 2022, over 14.50 lakh people have become victims of dog bites and the total number is likely to be about 25 lakhs. Gurgaon alone has an estimated number of 1.5 lakh stray dogs. The birth control programs from the Government have been halfhearted and have failed to control the population of dogs resulting in conflicts and burgeoning of legal cases between the dog lovers and those who oppose.  

Way Forward 

The enormity of the stray dog problem and the conflicts that arise from it need to be taken seriously by all the stakeholders i.e. the Judiciary, Government, Animal welfare Board of India (AWBI) NGOs and the public. Serious efforts must be made to resolve this problem as it has a major impact on the health and well being of both the humans as well as the animals.  

We all know that this problem can be resolved if population of the dogs is controlled, they are kept disease free and  are well fed. In addition we need to educate the communities to be more tolerant and compassionate towards them. This can only happen provided we have a an effective sterilization and vaccination program which has to be spearheaded by the Government in partnership with the NGOs. It is unfortunate that most municipalities including that of my city Gurgaon have miserably failed on this account. I urge the Government especially the Municipal corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) to take a lead and facilitate vaccination and sterilization of the stray dogs. For this they  need to create infrastructure and ensure easy availability of neutering and vaccination clinics.  

It is my considered opinion that problem of stray dogs is a community issue and it is so big that it cannot be resolved by the government or by the municipalities alone. There is a need for the communities to come forward and help to deal with this problem. The Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) must take initiative to neuter, vaccinate and feed the stray dogs in their self-interest. People must realize that a neighborhood with well managed and controlled population of stray dogs is safer and a better place to live. 

The NGOs fighting for animal rights are doing an yeomen service however have not been able to change the public opinion on stray dogs because of their rigid and  self righteous attitude. They need to leave extreme positions and find middle ground and show equal concern for the rights of local populations to leave peacefully without fear of dog bites. 

Last but not the least, the Government, NGOs and communities must endeavor to educate local populations to coexist with all animals more so the stray dogs who have been sharing this land with us from times immemorial.