Being a Hindu, I was always thought by words and by practise that all animals are equal. Right from ancient texts like Veda and later Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta have mentioned that the supreme power – Energy resides in all living beings equally. Hence treating all animals good came naturally to me right from childhood. However, as I grew up I realised not all people feel this way.
I saw young mothers teaching their kids to shoo away dogs who would be passing peacefully, some young uncles teaching their nephews to throw stones at such dogs, cows or towards any animal for that matter. Then the news of stray dogs attacking people, especially young children started coming in. I learnt a new phrase:“Human Animal Conflict”. With time I also came to know such Human Animal conflict has been existing for quiet sometime now and the way it is tackled is mostly by eliminating the threats. Jim Corbett was the prominent name. He is known to have shot over dozens of man eating tigers and leopards in Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand. But this was about a century ago and it mainly involved big cats from jungles. Most of my life I have lived in urban areas and for me this so called conflict meant dogs!
I got my first pet dog about 20 years in Nov 2003. He was a black Labrador. The first visit to vet wasn’t really great. The vet wasn’t happy with the dogs physical state and suggested that we should return the dog. But by then my motherly instincts had kicked in and I refused to give up. The dog stayed with me for little close to 11 years and passed away in my arms. He had made quite a few friends in his life, both humans and dogs and some cats too. If I have any compassion in me, I owe it to him to have kindled it.
After his passing, I had few dogs who would visit me and ask for food etc. One particular was a female dog who would knock like humans to ask for food. I named her Mongie, short for mongrel. When she had first time delivered the pups, I had started tending the pups thinking they were of Riki and her. However, later I realised they were sired by other stray – pet dog of our security guard.
I would feed the mother and the pups and fruitlessly post pictures on social media to get the pups adopted. There were instances when my neighbours paid Rs 100 to this security and throw away the pups in my absence. This particular neighbour also hit the pups of less than a month and half with sticks or stones. Mongie would deliver pups every few months and the story would repeat. In the meantime, I had made friends with young kids who would look after the pups in my absence. Then, for once I got an adopter who was ready to adopt all three pups of Mongie, however this dear neighbour of mine would create drama every alternate day. I was to transport the pups to Naneghat and was waiting for the pups to become 60 days old.
This is when I came across a group who would do animal welfare as charity. They had few volunteers including some lawyers. They visited the society office and the matter was resolved although not amicably. 2 weeks later I took the pups to the farmer at Naneghat. He tended them well.
This was probably eighth time that Mongie had delivered the pups. Each time she had given about 6 to 8 pups and none of them had survived except for these three. Her hind legs had started bending and she was almost limping with both legs. We decided to send her for sterilization that is for birth control surgery. However, she got aggressive and first attempt was not fruitful. Next time into heat, she conceived yet again.
During her earlier post-partum tantrums, I had seen her munching her own pups. Frantically I had googled to find out why she was doing that. It is all natural, Google had advised. That sight haunts me even today. I had decided that this was going to be her last pregnancy. And thus with all my will got her into the Van. And sent her to Canine Care Center through that local group. I had joined the group and made financial contributions whenever I could.
Thankfully, the ABC surgery went well and she was back in less than week. But age and earlier pregnancies had taken their toll. She was practically dragging herself everywhere. Some two years later, she died peacefully near my home. I buried her in an acquaintance’s farm.
This was just a start of Animal Welfare activities for me.