Cutting dog's tail can land you in jail

[rajveer]

Gentlemen,
Pls do not attack me like.......
The topic here is Cutting dog's tail can land you in jail.
I am a true dog lover. I said earlier even giving ur dog bath everday might be punishable in near future.

[mundaire]

This is going OT, but in the interests of keeping a fellow member safe:

While I am no expert, when confronted with an aggressive stray pack, resist the urge to stare them down, it's a sign of aggression in dog language and may incite them to attack. Usually best to back off taking care to avoid any sudden movements. As mentioned above, keeping a cane or something similar handy would be a good idea.

While the dogs Rajveer mentions may/ may not be rabid, he certainly will need to go through the anti-rabies course if he is bitten, besides of course the obvious injury. I doubt anyone would enjoy either!

Rajveer, from your post it seems that the dogs have formed a pack and are displaying classic pack behaviour. The aggression displayed is not rabies induced but characteristic of such packs. These packs can be extremely dangerous and should be avoided as far as possible. IIRC there have been recent cases reported in the news (Bangalore was it?) where such packs have mauled children to death. With Municipal authorities barred from destroying strays, such incidents are only likely to go up in number.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[dr.jayakumar]

i think there can't be any other country sooo thoughtful!

[captrakshitsharma]

Its the world going crazy and overboard.The species that are traditionally docked are docked for good reasons and there is more to it than looks...Jobless people with funny agendas to get the 5 minutes of fame.

[ak27]

Abhijeetji, down here in Andhra Pradesh the stray dogs are on the run for the past few months. There are large number of reports of rabid dog attacks on children and adults alike. Adding further to the problem is the unavailability of medicine in Govt. hospitals which has resulted in deaths of 11 victims so far. In my city alone 4 deaths were reported. I was shocked to read in the yesterday's newspaper itself that a stray dog has attacked a 5-year old and mauled his face with a 5-inch long and 2-inch deep cut. The on-lookers were horrified to watch the dog chewing the bitten-off flesh and swallow it.

[mundaire]

You might want to read the following news report before you take any such steps:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 073292.cms

Also, IMHO even if it were legal, shooting an animal the size of a dog with an IHP 35 would be very cruel as (unless it was a freak shot) the animal would not die (forget about an instant/ clean kill) and would most probably suffer terribly. That said, I do believe that in stead of punitive animal cruelty laws, it is far better to educate people and trust them to make the right choices. As it is we have an overly burdened judiciary and such cases only add to the burden without contributing in any significant way towards improving citizens lives.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[ak27]

Oh my goodness! Thanks for the info Abhijeetji.

Now, Can you please help me out on where to lodge a complaint about the menacing issue of stray dogs. I am planning to lead some 30 odd colony members to the town commissioner. Would that be appropriate?

[Priyan]

I don't live in a city but the stray dogs are causing great problems here, some of them are rabis and some aren't but in their mating season they get extremely furious and attack anyone they see and they are number one cause of motorcycle accidents. A lot of my friends have been badly injured while trying to avoid them on road. For me, I just run them over if they gets in my way, I think it's better than hitting bystanders or spending time in hospital with a few broken bones.
Now here's something to make you puke. I was running in early morning yesterday just like I do everyday. It was about 3:30AM and quite dark. While running I felt like I stepped on something slippery, I thought it was water as it was raining a little earlier and continued running. After about an hour on my way home I arrived at the same spot and saw something that made me sick. The slippery thing I stepped on wasn't water, it was a dog killed in road accident earlier that night, then I looked at my legs noticed blood, dirt and god knows what else.
Damn! a dead dog cost me my trouser, shoes and a set or socks.

[ak27]

Horrific!

I am sure it would be a great turn-off for me and such an experience in the early morning would ruin my whole day.

[Priyan]

Now, Can you please help me out on where to lodge a complaint about the menacing issue of stray dogs. I am planning to lead some 30 odd colony members to the town commissioner. Would that be appropriate?

My relatives who live in a colony had the same problem and they went to lodge a complain at the municipality. The municipality said they are there to take care of the city not colony. For inter-colony problems they should contact the administration committee of the colony.
Both committee and the colony asked to contact the other and the problem is still there.
Well, all I can suggest is talk to the town commissioner and see what happens.

[ak27]

Will do Priyanji.

[airgun_novice]

As per what a retired RTO (MH) told me - should a stray come under a vehicle on road and dies, it's *not* a crime. There's no need to jeopardize your life or that of fellow passengers or of those on the road for the dog. He could not cite me the "kalam" off-head nor have I verified it through any other source. However, killing them straight off (hack/ poison/ shoot/ etc etc) by private citizens is definitely against the *current* law. Solution ? Complain to the cops as a law and order situation or get a court order for the respective MunCorp health dept to pick them up, sanitize and neuter them. Usually, with neutering of the alpha male(s) and the pack, aggression levels dip. Should the dog be actually rabid - the onus is on the MunCorp's health dept to take *suitable* action. (Also pt #4 below.) Don't think even the PETA has any problem with those measures against the really rabid dogs.

Got this link off the Net - may be Ms. Rajashree Khalap can help out with suggestions on how/ who to contact for area stray dogs ruckus problems. No harm in writing to her, I suppose ?
http://www.indog.co.in/HomePageContent.html

In Mumbai-Thane (not sure about RO-MH or ROI) should dog(s) "adopt" a housing society then the housing society is "urged" to retain it/ them. The max the MunCorp helps out is by neutering and then returning them!Logic ? Neutering blunts off aggression (in line with what an IFGian wrote about mating time) and "removing" them would lead to the vacuum getting filled in by "others". Once upon a time, BMC/ TMC used to capture the strays and then drop them off at Krishnagiri Upavan (SG National Park) for the leopards. Then came along Maneka Gandhi and the "practice" stopped.

IMHO a few points to note:
1. Accept possibility of inter-breeding of stray/ ferals with the wild and be cautious (not afraid).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canid_hybrid
2. Be observant about the behaviour - notice if pack behaviour has set in. If so, who among them is/ are alpha(s). Try to stay calm than let nervous reaction (written in my previous post) take over. I know it's easier written than done. At least it worked for me against the 25-30 feral dogs when confronted. I suspect the number swelled when my wife displayed classic fear symptoms against the initial 2-3.
3. Accept the possibility of the dogs reverting to wild pattern - remember strays are often not domesticated (in cities especially) nor are they trained or tamed i.e. adopted indoors as "pet". They simply co-habit the space along with humans. The "hunter" (including *domesticated* cats) prowls at night. As the night darkens, so does the attitude and innate nature of the feral.
4. Write to newspapers of the stray problem in your locality - do not forget to mention the names of Corporator/ MLA/ MP of the area concerned. Write especially to the Corporator along with the Ward Officer also. Nowadays I suppose you can file an RTI for ATR after pre-set time period. High possibility that you shall see some action on the front. If you read my own experience in the earlier post; today the "menace" is reduced greatly in the same area of Thane.
5. For heavens sake and your own, never fantasize about self being Sunny Deol and the pack of strays being Amrish Puri's soldiers from the movie Gadar; discretion being better part of valor.

Hope my 2 cents worth of contribution on the topic helps IFGians make an informed decision, take appropriate steps and stay safe. else I now plan to hit the sack before the howling begins.

[Steve007]

well, first of all, tail docking is done (by a vet) at three days of age (wth dew claws as well) before the pups even have their eyes (10 days) or ears (21 days) open. So I don't think you can make an argument for it being "cruel" or whatever soft-headed argument the crazed and ignorant animal rights people use. The comparison to circumcision is probably not too amiss.I don't think anyone's traumatized for life by it, or even past their next meal. It is so mild at that age that anaesthetic is not even used. It causes no more than momentary discomfort since the neonate puppy does not have a fully developed nervous system. When the pup is placed back with its littermates, it quickly falls asleep or starts feeding again.

Secondly, I realize there isn't much (or any) bird-hunting in India, but in heavy cover (or near barbed wire if you're really unlucky) undocked dogs' tails, even the coated ones like setters, get beat to heck, and I mean really bloody and sore. With many dogs, you have to tape them repeatedly (not much fun for the dogs when you take the tape off either); sometimes they get infected.They do not "swish their tails to keep off flies" as someone here mistakenly avers. Hint to "goodboy_mentor ": the ones with canine teeth and forward-facing eyes (predators) are dogs; the others (the ones that stand around, graze and swish flies) are horses.

Thirdly, dogs have a right to look like themselves and for their owners to be proud of them. An undocked uncropped Doberman, for example, looks like a skinny Black and Tan Coonhound (it's a breed; look it up) and as a guard or just household "threat" dog, scares no one.

Here is Field Champion Jerelyn's Justa Stacked Deck, Senior Hunter, to use her full name (one "leg" on MH). #6 nationally last year and #4 in the National Field Championship trial for her breed , which is German Wirehaired Pointer, and my regular hunting partner, house and office friend. She likes how she looks and I do, too. And her tail doesn't get repeatedly banged and bloodied on cover or barbed wire, for which we are both grateful.