A dog was sitting in my garage and I felt very angry. I used a stick to drive him away, another day a dog came near me in expectation of some food. I felt irritated and drove him away, all these incidents are common in our daily life. But what changed my perception was the dog whom I always use to drive away saved my car from thieves one day. Some thieves came to my garage to steal my car, and the street was sitting there as usual. When they tried to take my car, he started shouting and so finally the thieves got caught in the process. I felt very guilty that day, the animal with whom I never behaved well saved my car.
That day was an awakening for me, my views toward animals changed. I felt very selfish as we always cut trees in the name of civilization, and make the wild animals homeless. Then we complain they are invading our place. But, if we break into their homes, we should provide them with an alternative also. If we keep a dog as a pet, we will pamper them as our son. But for street dogs, we will treat them as nonliving things. The way homeless people stay on the streets, similarly the stray dogs also stay on streets. It is their home, and we have no right to make them homeless. Nor do we have any right to harm them. In many situations after getting beaten by people, they suffer fractures and injuries. They never receive any first aid so die an unusual death. If someone kills any human being, he is given life imprisonment. But for killing an animal directly or indirectly no such punishment is given. But if we think with a cool mind, that is also taking the life of the living object. The torture of the voiceless animal needs to be stopped. We need to develop empathy for them also.
A small change in our approach can make the life of stray dogs better. We can try to give them food and throw away bones on the proper plate. It will stop food waste and help them to survive. We can take steps like never dumping waste in plastic papers. Many times, animals go in search of food in wastebin and consume the food with plastics. This in turn affects their body as the consumption of plastics is very harmful. We should never throw stones at them, or condemn people for doing the same. One such incident is throwing stones at dogs when they are mating. If the tie between them is broken during that time, it creates many serious impacts on their body. It can also affect the conceiving capacity of the female god. We just need to show some humanity towards the animals as we show towards humans. Dogs are men’s best, if treated with love they return the love manifolds.
The dogs should also be given freedom of movement like humans. They should be allowed in parks and every public place where humans are allowed. They are also a part of our society and even our law says the same. If we don’t discriminate against humans on basis of slum dwellers or wealthy people. The discrimination basis street dogs and pet dogs are also not supportable. They should also have equal rights for necessities like food and shelter. Even for cleaning their poop we can assist each other and make society leavable for street dogs also. If somebody is not supporting our cause and keep torturing the dogs, we can file a complaint against them under section 428 of the Indian penal code. Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act state if somebody does any cruel activity against an animal, they can be subject to imprisonment.
Dogs become hostile towards humans only when we try to attract them. It is their way of selfdefence. But still, we can come across some stray dogs who have become aggressive. So, W.H.O has given guidelines to deal with those dogs also. The W.H.O. recommends systematic sterilization, vaccination, and community-level adoption of dogs will reduce aggression in dogs and will make society animal friendly also. Relocating or misbehaving is not a solution, as we all are part of the same ecosystem. We should cooperate and protect the environment and animals then only the human race will survive.
The same laws have been incorporated into our fundamental duties. Article 51(A) states that every Indian citizen must protect our environment and living creatures. Articles 25,26,27 and 28 also preach the same philosophy. It inspires us to serve animals. Even in Hinduism cow is considered a god, and feeding them the grass is considered a GOOD KARMA. So, we should not only restrict ourselves to feeding cows but also, we should come together and make the world a better place for all animals. Our law also strictly supports the same, as Section 506 of IPC says it punishable offense to abuse neighbors who feed animals. Sections 428 and 429 provide punishment of up to five years for any act of cruelty against animals.
Let’s do a small thing, let’s not help them, but at least let’s not torture them, they have equal rights on the planet. Let’s not throw warm water on them to drive them, so beat them with sticks. Let’s consider them as living things and feel their pain when they are made homeless. We will not have to love them but only treating them with equality is enough to make society a better place for living.