Pets Or Predators?

I have nothing but admiration and praise for all the animal lovers of the world. Today, however, I must share a few stories that may show these animals, birds, and pets in a somewhat different light. I request my animal-loving readers to read and understand these stories in the right perspective.

The first story is about Raja. No, Raja is not a pet animal or bird, he was my neighbour long ago in Mumbai. As you may know, Mumbai has thousands of co-operative housing societies, small and large, which have hundreds of flats within their gated compounds. We lived in one such society and Raja was one of my friendly neighbours.

Among the many endearing qualities, Raja possessed was his love for dogs. He did not have a pet in his house but he had this extreme compassion for strays.

Talking of strays, Indians have a special love and affection for any stray animal or bird; be it cows, dogs or pigeons. I would like to think that this affection is born out of our traditions and beliefs. Cows are, for example, an extremely revered species in India for the simple reason that they are considered holy. Feeding cows is not merely a sacred duty but also sound business! Outside most temples, you can find one or many cows with their employers, waiting for devotees to complete their prayers to God and come out to feed them. The devotee buys grass or hay from the employers of the cow and feeds it to them with a prayer and a wish on his lips. The cows are thus ensured of their daily food and their masters of their wages. A win-win situation for all concerned. The devotee gets his prayers answered, the cow gets healthy and the master gets enough to run his/her family. There are no overheads. The grass is procured from gardens that need cutting or from vacant public lands where their growth goes unchecked.

Returning to Raja and his love for stray dogs, our colony, though well guarded by security, had a large number of these strays roaming around with gay abandon and absolute freedom. When the security staff was questioned about their negligence in allowing the dogs to enter and exit the colony without proper checks, they retorted that their job was to regulate visitors and vehicles and animals were not part of their duties. 

While most of the residents were worried about this unchecked menace of stray dogs, a few, like Raja, protested and opposed any action against these animals. Some even cited the prevention of cruelty to animals laws to warn dog haters. None of us wanted to get on the wrong side of such laws and end up in jail, so the menace continued unabated.

Raja fed the stray dogs with parle G biscuits and leftover food without fail every day. On certain special occasions, he got special meals prepared by his wife to feed the dogs. When we cautioned him to be careful he would just smile and ask us: “These are children of the Gods who created us, aren’t they?” Who can deny?

On my early morning walk within the colony one day, I saw Raja surrounded by a large number of drooling dogs eagerly snapping at the Parle G biscuit packet in his hands. I waved my hand at him and he smiled back at me happily.

Just when I had crossed him and his strays, I heard loud barking and commotion. I turned to witness the most ghastly sight I had ever seen. About half a dozen dogs were upon Raja, snarling and snapping at him in a frenzy. I could see that they were attacking him and before I could anything, they had pushed him on the ground and were upon him, wreaking their vengeance on him as if he was their enemy.

Even as I picked up stones and whatever I could lay my hands on to throw at the dogs and scare them away, they were biting him all over, those frenzied pack of wolves. It took us just five minutes to disperse the mob of dogs and rescue Raja, but within this short time, the dogs had succeeded in lynching him. Raja was bleeding all over with his face badly mutilated.

He was in a hospital for 45 days, battling for his life. He survived, but I don’t think he fed stray dogs ever again.

Another incident involved a pigeon loving neighbour of mine, years later to the Raja incident and in another location. This particular lady, a south Indian, had just moved to our colony having bought a flat here. My wife went over to their flat even as they were in the process of cleaning it for it had remained untenanted for a long time. The flat, my wife told me, had been the abode of pigeons as it was lying locked and unattended.

My wife saw the lady vigorously engaged in cleaning up the mess created by the pigeons. The pigeons had left their feathers and shit all over the flat and there were even a number of dead pigeons, their carcasses rotting. When my wife asked the lady why she was dirtying her hands instead of engaging sweepers to clean, she told my wife that she did not believe in leaving dirty jobs to others. My wife pointed out that cleaning all the shit and feathers could affect her health. The lady laughed and said that pigeons were her friends and she would, in her earlier house, feed them and talk to them every day. Pigeons loved her and she reciprocated their love.

A year later, my wife told me that the lady was admitted to the hospital with some lung problems. Upon enquiry, we found that the doctors, upon examination, found pigeon feathers stuck in her lungs. It transpired that the pigeon loving lady would hold these birds lovingly in her hands, pet and kiss them and this, over a period of time, unwittingly resulted in inhalation of tiny bird feathers and other particles, which then stuck to her lungs.

The lady is now fighting for her life as doctors are unable to find a way to clear her badly affected lungs. As I said, I have nothing against animals or birds. I only feel that we should not be blinded in our love for them.