BEASTLY BEST BUDDIES

BEASTLY BEST BUDDIES – (RAJEEV SETHI)

"C'est Fou! You must be mad!" My laid back friends with hyper poodles berate me over a lean lunch in Fez." "You cannot go back to India just because your bitch is about to deliver! And why haven't you spayed her? What if she lands you with a litter of 13 mangy creatures?!!"
Thirteen? Choking over the cous cous …I reflect on my little one, Poochi, found as a pup hiding under my parked car, having atleast a dozen neighbourhood street dogs that looked like her.

Poochi simply strayed into my life as a Gift of God three years ago and stayed since. She grew however into a rather reckless adolescent; 'forced' into motherhood when barely 10 months by a scoundrel. I am still trying to lay my hands on. She went through being a reluctant and careless mother two years ago giving me a bundle of 5 pups (not thirteen) that would jump and settle on a piece of territory over my stomach and chest with a deep sigh ….. Bliss that I had never known!

Born of resilient stray genes, the five pups were bouncing fit named after distinct identifiable traits and features. Boota is white below the knees, Booti has 4 white paws, Bhuri (fair) is cream all over and our vet thinks she is the Street Queen of Labradors, Sletty also referred to as 'lafangi' is prone to jump into any car with an open door, and finally Bhola, alas the one most aloof and alone and ignored by most, who slipped away from our life on Rakhi day even as my sisters tied the sacred thread on my wrist

The purpose of this essay however is not to introduce you to my extraordinary family but to highlight the abuse implicit in our relationings as dogs' best friends. As human beings we are born to be selfish and self-centered. Whatever we do as friends of animals is first and foremost to ease our own conscience or as a comforter to our stressed out lives and almost always at the convenience of our own species. Dogs are different and thank god they can teach us the unconditional love of a true friend.

As I write this, I am seeing my completely frenzied Boota literally lose his balls. Two of his sisters are on 'heat' (do we ever say that respectfully about humans?) His 'teenage' groin is on fire and may soon break into a terrible rash, as it did last year when not being able to lighten his load anywhere. He is trying to scratch and gnaw his way into a protective wooden kennel, to jump on his sisters who for some mysterious reasons (familiarity?) don't want him. There are hardly any females fertile for union roaming free and those people that breed pets do not want to oblige mongrels.
Boota cannot go out in the street to find a mate because he will be killed. It is easy to growl menacingly at passing dogs outside from the safety of ones home. Born to domesticity, he could not survive the laws and ragamuffins of Neeti Bagh. How does one bare to see an anguished adolescent 'son' coping with the poignancy of rejection, unable to understand or follow his basic instinct ? How do I obstruct his natural growth with the decision to neuter him before he can experience the joys of sex even once or for as long as he wants? Surely the right to 'calm' him down permanently would be more to buy our own peace and comfort, simply because we have wiped out (in our locality) the entire species of fertile females.

When I called an NGO working with animals and told them about Boota's predicament – the response was that of a matron in charge of a Nari Niketan – reforming women of easy virtue. "We have more important issues than catering to your pet's pleasures. You have no right to be so irresponsible, get the operation done if you love your dogs!" They say animals forget their need to mate and develop ways to survive. Humans have control over their mind and body and have better means to do as they want. Pity that canines as man's best friends, cannot be permitted even a few privileges. Although we continue to be amazed at the grace, dignity and intelligence of a breed we have kept in bondage.
Poochi has been spayed since her first litter .. err offspring … and has grown fat and a lot less agile, as most do after the operation. I am told, however, that her systems work better having been a mother once. Her personality has certainly flowered and her relationship with her only son and three teenaged daughters is so tenacious and heart warming. Boota, being the only male in the family, has traits I recognize. I am also the only brother amongst several sisters. The emotions of the whole family for each other are both clear, complex and transient … like ours.

While Boota's predicament, and unfulfilled rites of passage remains a deeply felt predicament, it's not as if finding a suitable mate for my 'daughters' is any easier! Street dogs are mercilessly picked up, starved or battered and in some places even burnt or put to sleep. And if you are selective about match-making, your anxieties are proportionate to a father with unmarried daughters coming of age. A good future for everyone is predictably one's main concern. It's not just about being uncomfortable with one-night-stands. What if the mating becomes brutal, and can land you in a hospital like in the case of Poochi? What if the pups are not healthy or cute enough to put up for adoption?

So every morning I find myself following people taking healthy canines for a walk! I match-make shamelessly, suck up to the 'parents', negotiate 'deals' that I hope no one hears about. You will be surprised how many people are ready to rake money on the side, boasting about their BOY! Yet most desire pedigree females even to allow their spoilt sires to sow their wild oats. Once, I even kidnapped a street hero as a prospective groom and carried him away from an up-market neighbourhood – but my girls weren't ready and foolishly petulant, frightening their reticent suitor ! A day later when I dropped him back, I was dumbstruck guilty to see the exhilarating reception he got from the wild bunch of his brooding friends.

No, there is no question, the city's community of pie dogs - even as part time pets - have their own norms and web of connectivities. They are hugely evolved in their reasoning, assuredly amusing, occasionally menacing, cruelly abused, mostly needed (ask your chowkidars) and seriously threatened as a species.

So where can we go from here ?

Can there be a few parks that permit domesticated dogs to enter on a leash and areas where they can meet their possible mates without a leash ?

Can there be an on-site agency for informal adoptions of newborns, or a neighbourhood notice board that does match-making without charging a bunch for pumped up portfolios ?
Can there be a temporary medical or more natural reprieve from sexual frenzy for a growing dog like my Boota. And if all else fails are there any reversible operations for canines ?

Can there be MORE centres that can arrange facilities for those in trouble and prompt humans to be more friendly towards canines without homes. Indeed can Resident Welfare Associations do some Bhagidari in the holding capacity for strays in their areas and find ways to look after them ?
Finally, I am sure there are several laws that spell the responsibilities of dog owners but none for a society that has refused to accept this rare form of urban 'wild' life. Come the Commonwealth Games and the species would become extinct as promised, as in the 'developed' world, simply not concerned about strays as relevant to diversity as household insects and sparrows.

So is it time for a serious Declaration of Dog Rights ?