My View on the Sterilization of Stray dogs

Hollywood actress Pamela Anderson in her letter to BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak has written, “Will you please promote a sterilization programme for stray animals? Dogs cannot use condoms but with the municipality’s help, they can be fixed painlessly, quickly and permanently. I hope to hear from you soon and to meet with you during my visit to India.” I copied these words from TOI article.

Which of these is considered to be cruelty, killing dogs or sterilizing them? Will sterilization stop them from biting? Instead dogs were vaccinated against rabies, it would be better. They say a female dog will eat one of its own litters right after giving birth due to hunger and tiredness, but to protect the remaining ones it will bark and pounce upon every creature. I have not witnessed it. And 1-2 will survive out of 5-6 litters. Comparatively dog population is less. All dogs do not bite. Dogs that bite should be kept confined.

Can we live without being cruel to animals? In one way or the other we all are cruel to animals. When talking about cruelty there is so much to mention. Isn’t it a cruelty to cattle giving birth every year for milk and sterilizing dogs? It is for humans who live against Nature’s rules, not for animals. We extract animal milk, which is meant for their offspring and feed our infants. Adults also use milk for tea, curd and other purposes. We breed some animals, feed them and kill them for food when we want. We don’t feel it cruelty when animals are being slaughtered for food. Mass culling of chicken had been done due to bird flue in the recent past for the safety of people. Hunting animals for food is age-old habit of humans. It is still going on. The irony is that we can kill some animals if it is for food and cannot kill other animals even if they become nuisance. People kill rats, protect snakes! How will snakes, cats and dogs that live on rats survive, if they kill them?

There were only bullock carts and tangas as transport before the discovery of the modern vehicles. Bullock carts are still plying on the village roads. Farmers still use bullocks to plough their farm land. Caravan of camels still moves along carrying loads and even humans on the deserts. They keep animals in the zoo for the fancy of humans and use animals for sports, race, shows, circus and carrying loads. They forcibly make animals do the impossible tasks. Sports, games and dance of humans do not amuse animals. We cannot change animals’ instinct. Snakes are bred to bite.

I find all these activities of humans strange. Taking care of animals is a time and energy waste for humans. Why do we need to take care of wild animals, our predators? There were human beings on this earth million years ago. Did they do it? Instead they might have defended them all their life. People living in hi-rises in cities become animal rights activists. Meat eaters become animal lovers! They do not know anything about village life. When animals become nuisance what will they do? Will they be able to protect people from animal attack?

Recently I read in the news that elephants enter into the locality of villagers and attack people, destroy houses and crops. They keep vigil through out day and night and live in fear. Encounter with wild animals is common where people live near forests. A few cases about leopard mauling people at National Park/Thane stretch in Mumbai alone were reported in the last few years. Suppose, there were dinosaurs, what would have happened to people? They would be dangerous than elephants or any other wild animals. Such endangered species become extinct for the sake of human beings. Bats population is high in Mumbai. These ugly creatures are a big threat to cattle. Fire-flies are a lovely sight in dark nights in villages. I have never seen a fire-fly in Mumbai. Pollution and fumigation might have caused their extinction. When animals become nuisance we have a right to defend ourselves for our life. If animals get killed in the defense it should not be considered as a crime. If we sympathize with all creatures no one will be non-vegetarian. And we should not use animals for any purpose.