Oh! I must tell you about the Dogs of Bangalore!

There are small dogs, big dogs, long dogs, tall dogs, tiny dogs, and in-between dogs!
Then there are white dogs, spotted dogs, black dogs, brown dogs, gray dogs, stripped and multicolored dogs!
There are also the skinny dogs, fluffy dogs, short haired dogs, powder-puff looking dogs, and cuddly dogs! Big-eyed, small-eyed, cross-eyed also!
There are 'dog shows', 'kennel shows' for the elite dogs, where all the pretty, sweet, obedient, dressed up, and even the obnoxiously 'ugly' dogs gather! Each is supposed to reflect their 'Pedigree', and mind you they get 'certificates', cups and sashes to put round their necks, and look the very personality of their owners too!.

Apart from all these dogs, there are the so called ferocious 'guard' dogs, they are 'blind-seeing eye' dogs (I've yet to see one in Bangalore, leave alone 'in action'! There are so many 'blind schools' in Bangalore, but I haven't come across a Training School for Blind Guide Dogs! So much for the helping hand to the visually impaired!), the Police dogs (K9), now all these dogs are 'officially' recorded in the 'books' of the Kennels, and with 'authenticated certificates of pedigree', and 'country of origin' (somewhat like a commodity imported). I am sure they are all 'vaccinated and pedicured' with a regular monthly 'thermometer' check up!, but really how many of these dogs have a 'license to live'? I guarantee you that none of these dogs have anything attached or on them that will give the essence of 'local tabs'. It would be an insult for them to wear a 'license', but they anyhow exist, and that too, they learn to act, live and be 'proud',  they have owners who strut about and feel that they too have a 'certificate'. Congratulations! These are the so called 'top of the class'. These are supposedly the "Good " class of  doggie special citizens.

Now comes another breed,  some of these have owners who love them, but do not spoil them. They may fuss about them, they may play with them, but then they do not get any 'pedigree' food, just the food off the table. They do get an occasional bath. The dogs on the other hand are very loving, always looking out for their owners to return. They are somewhat good watch dogs, and can be possessive when others are around. They do a lot of mischief by chewing up the furniture or shoes, sometimes the carpet gets a dousing, but on the whole these are fun loving dogs. They may not have big areas to run about in, but adjust to the surroundings. Because of their mischievous and hyper activity, they are always scolded lovingly, at times a slipper may be thrown at them, they are the " Bad" class of doggies. Can't really tag them as such, but for the sake of the story we will call them so, my apologies to my own mutt, Sam, a real hyper-tense Spaniel! These dogs have a roof over their heads, they may be kept in kennels, or out in the compound, most often indoors. They are seldom taken for a walk, their owners are mostly middle-class working kind, and so there is literally no time for such luxury.

Apart from the above 'breeds', there are dogs that have no fixed abode. They have no masters, they are 'born free', but I'm afraid, no longer. These dogs may be seen on the corners of the streets, singular or in a pack, depending on the sources of 'food' or 'female' company!. This breed are known as 'street dogs' and are now a 'dying' breed in Bangalore, soon to be an extinct species. You may find some of these dogs in the slums, under the carts of vendors or rag-pickers, or garbage collectors. They are attached to these people who share every meal they have with the dogs. They guard these people as they sleep in the open, at the side of the roads. They are very territorial, and this sometimes can cause conflicts between the species, escalating to the human owners taking sides of the dogs. Sorry to say, these dogs have earned a rotten name for their occasional habit of ganging up on some person walking on the road alone, they could bite, maul and even kill. Not all of the dogs do this, but then there are so called 'bad apples' among them who habitually attack people, chase after motorists, and generally make a nuisance of them selves. But for the sake of a few of these, presently 'all' the street dogs have been labeled as dangerous. There was a program carried out by the Corporation and a few NGO's to have these dogs 'neutered', and ears 'clipped' to indicate that they have been 'fixed'. Sorry, but this has not been successful, we cannot say why, and the finger pointing is in abundance. The word is out, and the Corporation 'marines' are on the rampage, 'the Dogs of War' are in action, the word is out to eliminate and destroy evidence that the dogs existed. This is an ugly affair, and so we christen these poor dogs as an " Ugly"  class! There was a move to get people to adopt these dogs at a rate of Rs.25/- per dog, but I feel that even before the dogs were set up for 'adoption', they were herded into 'concentration camps' and destroyed. Surrounding places like Mandya and Anekal have given us enough to freeze in our steps. I have met a few citizens who when questioned about these dogs say 'get rid of them, we have been chased, bitten by them, if they need ot live, then they need to be kept indoors', others are 'up in arms' protecting the animals, still others try to reach solutions on how to manage the dogs, one method was called 'ABC' and another 'adoption'.
We invite you to visit the life of these 'Ugly' dogs , and see for yourself the position that has been made against them.

You may back out at this stage and go back to the 'pretty' picture dogs .

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