"The life of street dogs in Dhaka city" written by Chandrima Saha, ID-23126085, 15th august,2023

                                                “The life of street dogs in Dhaka city”

                                                              Chandrima Saha

When you think about dog behaviors, you might imagine a dog catching a ball or roaming on a leash, playing around. However, more than 90% of dogs in this country are not kept as pets. They are free-roaming species that frequently live with people but are not members of any human family. They are the street dogs (aka Indian Pariah dog). They live either singly or in small groups, anywhere from big cities to the edges of forests. They have wolf-like faces, patchy coats, and short fur. The female dogs typically have one litter a year, either in spring or fall, but less than half of pups survive to adulthood.

                
In Dhaka city, you’ll find dogs almost everywhere. Almost all of them are friendly but some of them are scared of people as people sometimes beat them, torture them or even run cars/ buses/trucks over the dogs.

Struggle to survive
Street dogs usually depend on human charity. They are often seen at near of any restaurants, food courts, especially around tea stalls and butcher shops. Sometimes people throw their leftover in the dustbin and dogs basically live on the leftovers. They even cut their mouths as people also throw so many types of trash into the dustbin and some of the trash are sharp too such as broken glasses and metal tools. The toughest time for the street dogs are the rainy and winter season. Since they live on the street, they have no shelter to cover them up when it rains or cold. I noticed some kind people do give them cloths when its winter, I did that a lot too. Another problem I realized is, when it rains, the dogs take shelter under the cars, truck even buses. Usually the drivers don’t notice before start driving and run over them. Again, the street dogs suffer a lot at the time of the Ramadan as most of the food stalls are closed until evening.
Local kids annoy the dogs a lot. As they are kid, they don’t understand even chase the pregnant dogs and the sick ones too. The street dogs neither get the treatment they need, nor the veterinarian are sufficient for the dogs from this city. Even there are some vet center in this city but those are for business purpose and don’t serve for free. Again there are some NGO such Robin hood, Paw, Obhoyaronno etc. They work for the animals, not only for the street dogs but also street cats, rabbits, even for birds also. They provide them food, shelter and treatments. But it is impossible for them to reach everywhere or every dog that need their help. So many times I’ve tried to contact Care For Paws when I noticed any sick dogs and they came to rescue too. Some people help the street dogs even on their own.

 

Many people dislike street dogs, perceiving them as dangerous or annoying

People don't like dogs as bark unnecessarily. Sometimes dogs are a bit nervous and get violent such as during pregnancy, or they bite unconsciously due to trauma. They also carry some diseases like rabbis. Sometimes when the street children throw something at them, the dogs also chase the kids and try to bite to defend themselves. But people must understand that they are ignorant, helpless and speechless. What they do is mainly to save themselves and collect food. Dogs are beaten, culled or abused because they bark too much, chase vehicles, or just sit on someone's porch. Even massive dog killing happened in Bangladesh too which described as “killing spree against street dogs”.   DSCC's plan to remove/cull dogs, relocate them is also considered as cruel and dog lovers outraged over plans to relocate Dhaka strays.

 

For the welfare of the street dogs

 

The new law is titled ‘Animal Welfare Act, 2019’ for the strays especially for the street dogs after the massive killing and no remorse after a huge number of dog accidents. The updated Act outlines stricter penalties for any kind of mistreatment or harm done to animals, including dogs, such as six months to two years in jail. However, it is very important for the public to come forward to save them. You can also take part to save the street dogs by feeding them occasionally, creating shelters for them, setting up a food and water station in a safe, accessible area etc. Again vaccinating without killing, neutering to control numbers and encouraging adoption is really initiative for the street dogs. If you see a sick dog, try to come forward and contact the nearest hospital or NGO. Above all, if you dislike dogs, even if you can't love them, don't bother them unnecessarily.

Written by,

CHANDRIMA SAHA

A student of Microbiology program at BRAC University.