The country is currently witnessing stray dogs getting hyperaggressive and biting human beings. Almost every day, reports are surfacing in the media about stray dog attacks. What initially started in Kerala
has been spreading intermittently in different parts of the country. Is there something deeper behind this phenomenon?
Stray dogs have the unfortunate problem of being homeless, unprotected and, as a result, face bouts of starvation for long stretches of time. A lot of good human beings feed them out of compassion, many NGOs also attend to their health needs. Suddenly, there has been a spate of sporadic attacks by stray dogs, which has gained prominence in the media, and ultimately the Supreme Court has intervened and issued certain directions. But nobody has ventured to enquire about the reasons for the sudden bouts of aggression.
The term “aggression” refers to a wide variety of behaviours that occur for a multitude of reasons in different circumstances. All animals are aggressive when guarding their territories, defending their offspring and protecting themselves. Species that live in groups, including people and dogs, also use aggression and the threat of aggression to keep the peace and to negotiate social interactions.
The scope of this article is focussed on whether stray dogs are being intentionally served with drug-laced food. It is well known that many illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, hallucinogenic drugs and marijuana, are freely available everywhere. Also, drug addiction in many states is reaching alarming proportions. All these drugs, even in minute micrograms, cause agitation, hyperactivity, aggression, dilated pupils, excitement, disorientation, bizarre activity or movements, and altered mental state, in human beings.
For animals like dogs, a trace of the above drugs is sufficient to cause deep agitation and aggression. The likely possibility is that these stray dogs are being served drug-laced food either deliberately or accidentally. Deliberate administration of drugs, by lacing it in food, to make stray dogs hyper aggressive, and attack not only human beings but other dogs or animals, is happening sporadically in select human settlements. There is also the distinct possibility that drug addicts, after consuming food that gets contaminated by their touch or even half-eaten food thrown carelessly on the streets, could be another source of drugs getting ingested by dogs.
Diagnosis of illicit drug exposure in stray dogs can be extremely difficult as they never get proper medical attention. Successful recovery from illicit drug exposure is dependent on many factors, such as the size of the dog, type of drug ingested, the amount of drug ingested, and how quickly treatment can begin. While some types of drugs are milder and death is uncommon, certain synthetic drugs do carry more serious risks.
It would have been very appropriate for the Supreme Court to have directed the police and municipal authorities to conduct urine and blood test of aggressive dogs that have been caught. This would have enabled the authorities to investigate the drug angle and the source of drugs in the locality.
While on this topic, it will not be out of place to narrate the experience of Turkey. The incident occurred as part of a campaign to control the stray dog population in Istanbul. In the four centuries of Ottoman rule from the Conquest of Constantinople until the Tanzimat era, the dogs of Istanbul enjoyed a period of peaceful coexistence with humans. Then came a period of modernisation, where dogs came to be associated with poverty and cleanliness. In an effort to modernise the city, Sultan Mahmud II ordered all stray dogs to be exiled to various islands in the Marmara Sea. This continued uninterruptedly until the great decaninisation of 1910, when the iron-fisted mayor of Istanbul, Suphi Bey, ordered the municipality to round up all the street dogs and exile them to the barren island of Sivriada, where they would surely die of hunger and thirst. The people of İstanbul vehemently opposed this carnage. They rescued as many dogs as they could and hid them away in their homes and barracks.
The municipality workers captured 80,000 dogs and sent them to Sivriada, never to return. The island was rock solid with no trees, vegetation, water or food. Local accounts describe how the howling of dogs was heard for days and weeks, keeping the city’s residents awake. Not a single dog survived. Some drowned while trying to escape. Some were killed by others for food. But most of them starved to death.
The massacre of the city’s stray dogs left a scar on the psyche of Istanbul’s residents. The people feared that God would wreak havoc on the city in return for their cruelty, and most residents blamed the turbulent times after 1910, including the Ottoman Empire’s defeat in the Balkan Wars and World War I, on the brutal dog massacre. A severe earthquake that immediately followed the event was perceived by the locals as “a punishment by God for abandoning the dogs”.
Nearly a century later, animal rights activists of the organisation Animal Party put up a stone monument which reads “In memory of the tens of thousands of dogs that were left to die on this island in 1910.” This event has been cited in discussions about animal rights and the treatment of stray animals in Turkey, and it remains a dark chapter in the history of Istanbul. But Turkey has not learnt from this Karmic lesson. History is repeating.
In Turkey, a new law passed in the summer of 2024 provides for the capture of stray animals, particularly street dogs, in order to curb their proliferation. The law provides for their placement in shelters and the systematic euthanasia of animals deemed dangerous, particularly sick animals or those showing negative behaviour. However, Karma will strike once again, whether they believe in it or not. Karmic retaliation is beyond religion.
India has a hoary tradition since time immemorial of respecting animals. Ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues and an important tenet of Hinduism, inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself. Ahimsa has also been related to the belief that any violence has Karmic repercussions. The phrase ‘Ahimsa Paramo Dharma’ is frequently discussed in the Mahabharata, including in the Adi Parva, Vana Parva, and Anushasana Parva. The full shloka for Ahimsa Paramo Dharma is:
अहिंसा परमो धर्मः तथाहिंसा परॊ दमः,
अहिंसा परमं दानम् अहिंसा परमस तपः,
अहिंसा परमॊ यज्ञः तथाहिस्मा परं बलम्,
अहिंसा परमं मित्रम् अहिंसा परमं सुखम्,
अहिंसा परमं सत्यम् अहिंसा परमं श्रुतम्.
((Mahabharata 13.117.4) Anushasana Parva)
It was Jainism that really extolled the virtue of Ahimsa. Ahimsa is a life-long practice that forbids the harming, hurting and killing of any living being. Ahimsa does not only mean an absence of physical violence; it also means an absence of desire to use any form of violence. Concept of Ahimsa is very profound in Jainism. It starts with explaining what is life and different forms of life in this universe. It is incorporated in a book called Jeev Vichar Prakaran.
Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma has given the glorious concept of Om Sarvesham Swastirbhavatu. This iconic prayer states:
ॐ सर्वेषां स्वस्तिर्भवतु ।
सर्वेषां शान्तिर्भवतु ।
सर्वेषां पूर्णंभवतु ।
सर्वेषां मङ्गलंभवतु ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Om Sarveshaam Svastir-Bhavatu |
Sarveshaam Shaantir-Bhavatu |
Sarveshaam Puurnnam-Bhavatu |
Sarveshaam Manggalam-Bhavatu |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||
Meaning:
1: May there be Well-Being in All,
2: May there be Peace in All,
3: May there be Fulfilment in All,
4: May there be Auspiciousness in All,
5: Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
Let us treat all stray dogs and cats with compassion and kindness. Karmic laws are supreme, rising above judgements and man-made laws.
“Animals are a window to your soul and a doorway to your spiritual destiny. If you let them into your life and allow them to teach you, you will be better for it.”― Kim Shotola, The Soul Watchers: Animals’ Quest to Awaken Humanity.
The writer is Former Director General, Multi-Disciplinary School of Economic Intelligence, and National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
