Lapses of lingy…

Daffy, the survivor. An auto ran over him when he was a baby.

For the last one month or so I have been coordinating with a local NGO, which works towards the welfare of animals, especially street dogs. I wanted to get ma boy Daffy – a little street un’ whom I feed everyday – vaccinated. Many people feed street animals but don’t vaccinate them. Besides it being a prevention measure, since a dog is a dog is a dog and it will bark, most people feel safer in the presence of a vaccinated street dog.

Finally, I called up the owner and told him very agitatedly that if we don’t vaccinate ASAP, the little fellow is going to bite someone. Paranoia will strike the neighbourhood and someone would also come after me, blaming me for the debacle. Anyways, he agreed to send his people.

They landed up at 10 am, an army of four, equipped to face the lion in his den. Except that this lion is one and a half years old, has a back that is slightly squished (an auto drove over him when he was little) and who will wag his tail at anyone who expresses a smattering of affection.

The plan was that I would take him to his usual corner where he would be fed, and then we would proceed to vaccinate. Two of the boys landed up with their dog-catcher sticks (two long poles with a noose at the end of each one). The boy started barking at them with a vengeance. I think he smelt something fishy. One chap slipped in from the other gate. He then grabbed the boy using the skin at the back of his neck, and not in the right manner. This tactic proved disastrous; Daffy peed, not one but twice out of fear, and then scampered away in fright. It was a horrific sight, and in the bargain I found myself fending off some tears. The guys looked at me as if I was a ninny. I told the dog catcher that I would go after the boy, but he must stay as many square miles away as possible.

Boy was found crouching on the porch. As dudes approached, he began barking at the ambulance and all the local dogs joined in the symphony, which pretty soon reached deafeningly-high decibel levels. I tried feeding him a biscuit, but all appetite was quashed. Finally, he came and sat next to me but refused to follow me to the ambulance.
So I finally lifted him myself (he was heavy as hell), walked towards the ambulance and sat with him in my lap. By now he had calmed down significantly.

The door was pulled shut and one chap standing at one window, held his mouth closed (gently) and another sat on the driver’s seat and gave him two quick injections. It was over in five seconds, and Daffy did not as much as wiggle.

He hopped out of the van, and I paid the folks after they took 15 whole minutes to tell me the details. In dog years that is several hours, and the dogs in the neighbourhood grew very, very agitated, howling themselves hoarse. I requested them to park the van outside the compound, but they were callous and nonchalant about it. “Madame, they also bark at our NGO,” one told me in the most sub-moronic manner. ”True, but the local people here will get very irritated and not understand what the drama is all about,” I said, and right then a man came and tossed a large stick on one of the howling dogs.

It is far fetched to expect the average pedestrian to be kind to animals, considering that they are often not kind to even humans! However, one would expect these boys from an NGO that uses celebs to promote their cause, to be both, sensitive and sensible. But no. This is a job for them, and they are not attuned to treating situations with some amount of finesse. But let me not blame mere mortals for earning a living, in a manner can sometimes prove fatal.

While I have no doubt that the owners of the NGO have the best intentions and love animals to distraction, it currently functions like a one-man show, and that is not condusive for the survival and expansion of any initiative or enterprise. When a volunteer wants to join hands to help, one is left standing for a couple of hours at the venue with no one to give you any instruction in the areas where there is much to be desired. The call-to-action is missing as is resource mobilisation. The website states that they need newspapers and clothes and things. On several occasions, I have asked them to come and collect all these items and more, neatly stashed away in garbage bags at my house. They just answer in the affirmative and never show up.

Sadly one has very few alternatives in this city that are besides being committed, are consistent in their functioning. So, one has no choice but to call this one in question since vets will never come to a street doggie, let alone any doggie even if you are ready to pay them. On a different note, many people claim to love dogs. But this is really code for approving of a particular brand of dog, that comes with beautiful sheen, costs a ton of cash, is walked and attended to by a dog walker and may eventually be abandoned by being tied to a pole somewhere.

PS: 3-year-old Rottweiler found tied to pole (abandoned by owners) in Delhi. Very docile. needs good home, desperately. call Ritu @ 9810111691

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