Woof! Who let the dogs out? : India

By Ranjana Narayan

New Delhi, Jan 24 - Have you ever paused to think why the stray dog starts up excitedly whenever your car passes by, bounding alongside and barking as if you were its arch enemy? Or why that other stray near the dustbin barks when you cycle along and makes a lunge for your ankles?

It could be 'out of affection' or playfullness, in case the stray and you have been neighbours for some years, say vets, or it could be to 'protect their territorial rights'.

There are an estimated 265,000 stray dogs in the Indian capital, according to a civic body estimate done last year.

Every morning when Gauri goes in her car to drop the children to the bus stop, there is a particular black stray that sits waiting, and springs into attack mode whenever she sights their white Maruti Suzuki.

'It's really funny. She'll be sitting lazily, her jaws resting on her front paws, and as my car comes down the road, she perks up, and takes her daily position a little further up behind a tree. And as my car passes by, she jumps out barking loudly and gives chase for a little while,' Gauri, a housewife, recounts laughing.

However, the black stray, whom her children have nicknamed 'Gussi' -, does not bark when Gauri or her children walk past. 'She is very quiet then, her tail hangs down, and she looks at us from the corner of her eyes. I wonder why she chases us each morning,' says Gauri.

This behaviour of 'Gussi' could be out of affection, maintains veterinary surgeon R.T. Sharma.

'Dogs like to give chase and bark sometimes out of affection, when they recognise the person as a friend. They want to play,' Sharma, who runs Pet Planet, a veterinary clinic in south Delhi, told IANS.

Another reason could be to protect its territory, says Sharma.

'Sometimes dogs growl and give chase out of protective feelings over their territory. They feel any moving object, like a car or motorcycle, could be a threat to their territory, and they bark and try to bite to defend it,' he said.

'Gussi generally leaves us alone, except when she has littered, and then she becomes quite temperamental, nipping anyone who ventures near the nullah where she has hidden her pups,' says Gauri.

For 10-year-old Karthick, going cycling in the evening has become a forgotten pasttime - ever since he was chased by three-four ferocious dogs some months ago and one almost nipped his ankle.

'I pedalled as fast as I could to get away. One of the guards outside a house there showed a stick to the dogs and they moved back,' he said.

'But one of the dogs tried to bite me. Its teeth did not tear my skin thankfully as I was wearing jeans, otherwise I would have had to go in for those painful anti-rabies shots,' said Karthick, shuddering with fear.

According to veterinary surgeon Sharma, 'dogs gather in any area where they get food'. 'And they attack humans and other dogs in order to protect their area.'

So, how does one get past a ferocious dog?

'Offer it a biscuit,' suggests the doctor.

'When a dog comes to attack, don't get scared,' he said. 'Offer the dog a biscuit and wait for it to smell you over. It will go away. The next day, give it another biscuit, it will become friendly,' assured Sharma, who runs a veterinary clinic in Gulmohar Park and a Pet Hospital and Boarding Shelter in Vasant Kunj.

According to Deep Mathur, Municipal Corporation of Delhi - spokesperson, around 14,000 dog bite cases were reported in 2009 in the MCD-manned areas of the capital.

'There are 10 NGOs working with the MCD to manage strays in the capital,' Mathur told IANS. The NGOs work with resident welfare associations of various colonies to sterilise and vaccinate the stray. He said that according to a recent survey, 56 percent of Delhiites said they felt the menace of stray dogs was declining.

Sharma said that in Gulmohar Park in south Delhi there are about 23 strays and all have been vaccinated and sterilised.

'All the strays have got black collars so that they cannot be picked up by the civic bodies. They belong to the colony,' he said.

In case of getting bitten, Safdarjang Hospital has a speciality anti rabies section.

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