Have you ever noticed it? All the stray animals in our streets? Cows, cats, and dogs.

In our Indian Hindu culture, cows are highly honoured, which is an excellent thing for cows because that means people feed them.

But I want to talk about dogs. I don’t ‘officially’ have a dog as a pet right now, but I want to share a story with you.

Feeding The Strays

I’ll tell you what’s been going on in my neighbourhood. In my colony, there are many stray dogs. We have faced many problems because of this. In search of food, the dogs often empty all the garbage from the dustbin. Now that we’ve solved this problem, I want to share how we did it. The real problem of stray dogs is that they are hungry. They need food as we need food, to survive. 

So, local residents made a decision. All colony members should feed different dogs—each family feeds at least one. Many community groups across India came to the aid of stray dogs during lockdown in this way. My family and I feed two dogs. Let me introduce you to them. One is a male named “Kallu” because he is black. He is very naughty. Second is a female called “Safedi,” who is white. She is very calm. All the neighbours call these two dogs by these names. Also, when we call them by these names, they listen to us. So, it makes sense.

A Loyal Pair

Nowadays, these two dogs live around our house and protect our home at night, sleeping in the garden area. Dogs are considered very loyal. I now understand this, having observed them around the place. They treat us like they have known us for a much longer time — a little bit of love can make all the difference. I think you guys can feed your local stray dogs too, and I know that many people are already doing this, which is fantastic news for the dogs. 

Guardians

Now, I’d like to share a specific event with you, which happened during lockdown. All of us at home were engaged in our work as usual. Suddenly, a snake tried to get in through the front door of our house. Both dogs were sitting nearby and as soon as the dogs saw the snake, they started barking loudly. At first, we didn’t pay much attention, but after some time I felt something was up. I went out to see why the dogs were barking loudly and that’s when I saw the snake and got scared. Because the dogs were barking, the snake slid down into the drain.  

Dad To The Rescue!

I immediately called my father, who came and controlled the situation. He summoned the snake catcher to rescue the snake and they let it go in the forest. Luckily, our local Government Veterinary Hospital has a person who helps to rescue animals in these types of situations. I beg you never to kill snakes when something like this happens. Please check to see if your government hospital has such a person. 

Actually, my father is a veterinary doctor. He knows and respects the right of every animal. Whenever a nearby dog or other animal is sick, my father treats them so they can get back to good health. In India, we need more vets to care for the stray population. Because of my father, I am the type of person who cares about animals. After this particular event, my parents began to trust dogs more as pets. 

Final Thought

This was a big lesson for me, and I think it teaches us a lot about dogs and how they protect us. 

Finally, I would ask that you take care of the animals around you. Spread humanity and spread the love for animals in people as much as you can. I also want to thank the Dharamsala Animal Rescue Team for their continued work with stray dogs.

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