Over the last 6 to 8 months, the subject of stray dogs (I prefer to call them Streeties) has come up on more than one occasion. Media has been quick to highlight a couple of videos and news item of kids being mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs, for example. Political parties have also got involved in this matter. During the MCD elections, AAP’s 10 guarantees in the pre-MCD elections published in Nov 2022 included a point about dealing with these Streeties.
Unfortunately, we lack a comprehensive and systems-based approach to the subject.
A recent case in point is the meeting of RWAs and NGOs called by Mr. Vijay Goel in the DDA Park behind Panchshila Park on 2nd July 2023. The topic was, “Dog Menace – What is the solution?”. Mr. Goel from BJP has been a member of Parliament in 3 Lok Sabhas and has also held the portfolio of Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Statistic and Implementation in the NDA government.
Around 50 people attended the gathering. Appropriate and responsible bodies like the MCD were absent and highly exaggerated data was being shared with the audience. To share a few examples, his poster said that 20,000 people die of rabies every year. As against this, the National Crimes Bureau reported the 2019 figure as 4146 (The TOI 31.3.23). The poster published by Mr. Goel said that 4 crore people get bitten annually by dogs in India. As against that, the data shared in the Parliament talked about an average of 37 lakh dog bites annually between 2019 and 2022, less than one tenth of the claimed number.
Such an exaggeration leads to a total loss of credibility and makes you wonder about the reasons behind holding such meetings and fueling passions on matters that divide people, in this case between dog lovers and dog haters. It was ironic that the MCD in Delhi, led by the BJP Government for 15 years, was not able to solve this problem but, the moment AAP government took charge of the MCD, this meeting was organized by a member of the BJP to talk to the public about the ‘menace’.
The right way to find a solution would be to empower the RWAs/Colonies and create an eco-system of managing the Streeties collaboratively between such bodies and the MCD. The other thing is to focus on changing the perception that all Streeties are a menace and a threat to the safety of residents. Nothing can be far from the truth. We need to learn to cohabitate with mutual respect. If handled well, the Streeties are more our ally than a foe in the colony, helping keep the unwanted elements at bay.
We do hope that a concerted and systemic effort will indeed be made to deal with the challenges of managing Streeties, their growing population and the consequent threats posed to the public.
