On March 20, when Vikhroli resident Danielle Singh and her 71-year-old mother stepped out of home at midnight to feed the stray dogs in Kannamavar Nagar 2, it started out like just another day
Zahra Ruhani, an animal rights activist feeds stray dogs at Lohra Agadi Nagar, Yari Road. Pic/SAMEERâÂu00c2u0080Âu00c2u0088MARKANDE
On March 20, when Vikhroli resident Danielle Singh and her 71-year-old mother stepped out of home at midnight to feed the stray dogs in Kannamavar Nagar 2, it started out like just another day. It was a routine they had been following for the last 17 years. However, a few metres down the road, they felt a pair of eyes following them. "We realised that a man was watching us from a distance. We ignored it, because it’s normal for people to stop and watch as we feed the dogs. As we turned into a lane, he came towards us and caught me by my hair and began slapping me," she says. When Danielle’s mother tried to intervene, the man allegedly pushed her to the ground.
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Due to the assault, Singh has lost her hearing in one ear and suffers from nerve spasms. "It took six days to get an FIR registered. That night, on reaching the police station, the officer in charge only took a non-cognisable (NC) complaint and said you may leave. No FIR was registered, and no medical test was conducted despite the entire incident being narrated," she writes in her Facebook post. Incidentally, this is the third such attack on Singh in a span of a year while she was on her rounds to feed strays in the vicinity. Largely self-financed, the feeder community in the city has often come under attack for their perceived acts of kindness. "Till now, it was largely verbal, but when the situation takes a violent turn, that’s when you see the red flags," says Singh, who now goes on her rounds with a rod in hand.
Recently at Mahalaxmi Temple Chanchal Shah was allegedly attacked after temple authorities were informed that she was feeding the strays meat within the premises. The authorities however refute the allegations. Pic/Suresh Karkera
According to the Indian Constitution, Article 51A(g), it is the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to have compassion for all living creatures. However, with rising cases of violence against animals and harassment to feeders, the Animal Welfare Board of India started issuing ID cards in 2014 to protect their rights. In 2015, the Delhi High Court issued a ruling that no individual can be stopped from a feeding a stray dog. However, it adds that they will be fed in order to confine them to the localities/ areas that they belong to. It has also instructed housing societies to give designated spots for feeding. But, in the absence of such laws in Mumbai, the problem is mired in ambiguity.
In the last one year, Vikhroli resident Daniel Singh and her 71-year-old mother Jenny have been attacked thrice while feeding strays. It's only in the third case — which has left Daniel with temporary hearing loss and nerve spasms — that the cops register an FIR, that too six days after the complaint. Pic/Sneha Kharabe
Feeding: Solution or problem?
At the Mahalaxmi temple, Bhulabhai Desai Road, it’s not uncommon to see dogs lounging on the premises. "Slums dot both sides of the temple, so they often stray in. Some devotees feed them, but we have neither fed them nor harmed them," says Sharad Chandra Padhye, general manager of the temple. So, when Mahalaxmi resident, Chanchal Shah, who feeds the ten dogs in the temple, approached them to sterilise the dogs, they were happy about her taking the initiative. However, the situation took an ugly turn when Shah allegedly started feeding meat on the premises. "It’s a temple and we need to ensure that religious sentiments aren’t hurt. We have given her a designated area to feed the dogs," he says.
Shah, on the other hand, feels the matter was an ego issue. "I approached the police because the security head started misbehaving with me when I would go to feed them. I was assaulted by a lady guard,
despite having obtained permission," says Shah, who moved to Mumbai two years ago from Bengaluru and takes care of 25 dogs in the area. For now, Shah has assigned another person to feed the dogs biscuits on the premises.
According to NG Jayasimha, the managing director of Humane Society of India, in cases where the dog feeders are being harassed, it’s almost a proxy for something else that is brewing. "It’s often an intrapersonal war playing out," he says. For instance, when his team was investigating a case of feeder problem at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, they found that the problem was mostly with the place where the dogs were being fed, which came in the way of a path used as thoroughfare. So, the minute we assigned designated feeding spots, the problem came to an end."
Andheri resident Zahra Ruhani, who has been feeding over 100 stray dogs and 50 cats in the western suburbs for the last 15 years, feels feeding animals in designated zones can’t happen overnight. "If the animal has been coming to a particular spot, it’s not possible to train them to go elsewhere in a day’s time. But, people want to see results instantly." For Ruhani, feeding dogs is more than a moral obligation. "If they are hungry, they are going to make trouble. Unless you feed them and befriend them, you cannot catch feral animals for sterilisation — cats or dogs."
However, for some, the feeding can be problematic when it rakes up complaints from residents. Sindhoo Bahia Gala, the chairperson of a Versova-based housing society, says she was forced to broach the issue with certain members when people started coming up to her. "I am not against dogs, infact, I love them. But, feeding them outside somebody’s door and not cleaning up the mess left behind is unacceptable. We have no problem if they feed the dog outside the compound in a designated place."
Sachin Patil, DCP Zone VII, who was instrumental in getting the FIR registered against the accused in Singh’s assault, says the action taken against harassment in animal-feeding cases depends on the situation. "CCTVs are a big help because they help nail the culprit. I have instructed my team to install them in those areas because sometimes people may backtrack or witnesses = may change their statements."
Pic/ Nimesh Dave
A dogged problem in developing countries
Jayasimha feels dog feeding is an issue that;s peculiar to developing countries. "You'll see the conflict more in developing countries. A major factor here is garbage that is piled on streets. Dogs are scavengers so if you don't have access to this kind of garbage, such dogs wouldn’t exist. Abroad, you don’t find open meat shops and waste lying outside. The survival of street dogs is directly propionate to the food available," he says. He, however, adds that because of insufficient caloric density in the garbage, dogs often survive on rodents.
In terms of conflict, he feels that the issue is not a black and white one, where one person is at the right end of the spectrum and the other in the wrong. The team attempts to build intrapersonal relations between the warring parties.
66,087 No. of stray dogs, according to the 2014 census conducted by BMC
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