The killing of a four-year-old boy in Hyderabad by street dogs highlights the growing man-animal conflicts
The heartrending incident of street dogs fatally mauling a four-year-old boy at a housing society in Hyderabad has again underlined the man-animal relations. The relations, and conflicts, are as old as mankind itself. Over the centuries, however, the forms of conflict have changed. There is the issue of growing human population and the consequent expansion of human habitations, resulting in greater interaction between human beings and animals. Wild animals like leopards and snakes enter residential areas, parks, factories, etc. The problem grows by the day, and those who can solve it are unbothered. As a result, both people and animals suffer. While people are attacked by feral animals, and fear for their life and limb, several species of animals face the pressure of human population and are on the verge of extinction. Worse, the changes in geographies, lifestyles, and attitudes seem to have altered the behaviours of the animals which were generally regarded friendly to human beings. In fact, dog is said to be man’s best friend. So, what’s happening in India? The CCTV footage of the Hyderabad horror showed the boy walking around playfully when a pack of street dogs attacked him. The father of the child is reportedly a security guard in the housing complex where the incident took place. Unfortunately, this is not a freak incident of street dogs assaulting kids or even adults. There have been reports from various parts of the country where stray dogs violently attacked children and grown-ups.
Still worse, it is not street dogs that are becoming a menace; monkeys have also become quite a nuisance in towns, villages, tourist spots, etc. Let alone the countryside and remote areas, they swarm the heart of the national capital—Lutyens’ Delhi. It is a well-known fact that such Government buildings as North Block, South Block, Shastri Bhawan, and Krishi Bhawan are infested with these primates. And here lies the supreme irony: the powers that be of world’s largest democracy, which aspires to become a great power and which heads the G20 grouping, are unable to tackle this monkey business (pun intended). At the heart of the problem lie the pigheadedness of animal activists and misplaced sympathies of animal lovers. For the former, animal protection is an article of faith, a dogma indeed, which cannot be questioned or diluted, whatever the cost; even the cost of human life doesn’t matter. With relentless persistence and remarkable grit, they have ensured the continuance of the monkey menace by torpedoing all efforts aimed at solving the problem, like getting a langur to frighten away monkeys. Animal lovers, especially those who feed stray dogs but do little else, also contribute to the problem. It is time the authorities at various levels woke up to the dangers of violent animal behaviour. This will be difficult, given the might and garrulousness of the activists, but then good governance means taking tough calls.
