Independence Day: Not Just For Us, But For Them Too!

When I am in the car with my parents, looking through the window to see our city's diversity and togetherness, it would break my heart to look out, and not see a single stray dog: mothers caring for their children, playing with one another, and looking back at me with so much purity and hope in their glinting eyes. I can't imagine a world without these souls who have always stood beside us humans, always stood guard at our community gates, in rain and storm. And no matter the hate that people show them, they always show compassion and love for us. But, devastatingly, our highest court has decided to seal their fate: taking away their freedom just as the British Empire once did ours.

The Supreme Court has ordered authorities in the NCR to capture these voiceless beings, detaining all stray dogs to government pounds. Will the once free bundles of joy, looking out to us with tail wags on the streets, now only do so behind the cold metal bars of a cage? I cannot imagine or understand how humans, just one species on this planet, can decide and enforce the fate of others, and decide who lives or doesn't?

While I respect some strays can be aggressive due to territorial instincts, no dog bites without reason, and multiple experts have proven so. Because certain people may have had bad experiences, how can we destroy all their lives like that? If any one person murders, should all humans be imprisoned? In Delhi 2023, 1257 deaths due to road accident were reported. In light of this figure, should we ban all cars from the road?

There are estimated to be about 10 lakh stray dogs in Delhi NCR. "Currently, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) runs just 20 animal control centres. These facilities are for the short-term care of the canines after they are sterilised and released. Even if these centres are converted into full-fledged dog shelters, they would still house no more than 5,000 animals -- less than 5 per cent of the target." The NGO shelters that are run by voluntary funding from citizens are already overflowing due lack of government support.

They have no lawyers, no money, no one to fight for them. And the only home they have- are the streets they were once born on. We must come up with more practical and humane solutions to ensure compassionate coexistence:

In our communities, there are a lot of residents who are more comfortable with strays and are passionate about dogs. We can all work together to organize familiarization programs in our societies, to make people more comfortable with dog interaction and understand stray dog behaviour. These drives and programs can even be run by dog behaviourists and experts, to change people's mindset towards dogs, and show compassion just as they do for us. Children could also be familiarized on how to interact, to not tease or invade dog's space, as they will then react. Still, as empathetic residents, we must also respect the feelings of other residents who are not comfortable with dogs, and make designated feeding areas for them. We must demand that when stray dogs are sent for sterilization programs from societies, they are returned back to the same area, and not relocated. When strays are relocated, the local strays become territorial, causing dangerous conflict that could impact residents as well.

Since the primary fear and concern of citizens is the spread of rabies through stray bites, we as responsible citizens have to demand for vaccination drives, in order to ensure that dogs are healthy, and stray dog bites do not have such severe impacts.

Lastly, we also have to demand for the creation of safe and hygenic shelters first, before taking away stray dogs. It is our moral responsibility to make sure each and every dog has a home, with proper infrastructure for food and healthy living, before they are taken away from the streets they have called home for their entire lives.

So, now, on this historical 79th Independence Day, let's pledge to do our bit, and contribute to a more accepting, caring and inclusive world, so that all stray dogs can be safe, loved, and continue to brighten up the streets and our hearts forever.