Affection or Misconception? ... about stray dog feeding.

 *This blog doesn't intend to infringe on any human rights or animal rights. This blog doesn't support any kind of animal cruelty or violence against any animal in any form. A sincere apology if anyone gets offended.*


My journey with dogs began when I was a kid of around 3-4 years, feeding and playing with them for fun. Until a year before, if anyone would have seen me around dogs, they would have seen the same small kid who was feeding and playing with them, not just for fun, but out of love and sympathy towards nature and all living beings. And then one day I met an environmentalist and listening to his opinions changed my whole perspective drastically.

He advised me not to feed any stray dogs or pigeons. Until now my conversations about dog feeding had happened only with dog lovers and a dog NGO owner. But hearing a totally different view from the environmentalist about the same topic really opened my eyes. You must be wondering; why did the environmentalist, a person who loves nature and animals more than us, a person who was part of innumerable strikes that took place around India against natural habitat destruction advise not to feed stray dogs?

The answer to the question is that street dogs are not part of the city's food chain. A wild dog or a pack of wild dogs are predators in the jungle and help to maintain a balance between predators and prey; in some areas, these wild dogs are even apex predators; but a street dog is no predator. A street dog is now totally dependent on human beings for food, it has even forgotten the skill of hunting down prey. We have almost created a new species of a dog ( street dogs ) who are totally dependent on us and very different from wild dogs. Stray dogs are not here to maintain the balance between any herbivores or rats or mice or any such animal; they are only and only dependent on waste, the garbage that we see all over the streets, and on human beings who feed them. 

People who live in the core part of cities don't face any real problems due to dogs but a person who lives in the outskirts of the city or in an underdeveloped urban area is under a constant threat of leopard or tiger invasions for hunting these street dogs for food as they are easy prey for them. In recent years incidents of tigers or leopards entering city areas have been rising and they will keep on rising since their natural habitats are being destroyed and stray dogs are easy prey to catch with minimum effort. Today (as per the latest report) the street dog population in India stands at 6.2 cr and is still increasing. These stray dogs have started competing with apex predators like wolfs and wild dogs who in turn are on the verge of extinction in India.

To be frank not everyone is friendly or loving to street dogs. A majority of the population is scared of dogs and no one can force them to love street dogs or accept them as a part of their life. Increasing incidents of dog attacks on humans or small kids don't create a friendly environment where street dogs and humans can co-exist. People who love dogs need to understand that you can't force your opinions on other people; the more you will try to force your opinions, the stronger would be their resistance. 

So what should be done? If feeders suddenly stop feeding dogs the problems will only increase. A hungry dog will turn aggressive, leading to more human-animal conflicts. The only way out of this problem is by controlling the growth of stray dogs so that future generations can have a place to live without such problems to care about.

This is my solution to the problem. I have categorised 3 types of persons; find your criteria and try to follow the suggestive actions.

1) A person who does not feed dogs or is scared of dogs:- I will request you not to feed street dogs. I also recommend you manage waste disposal with great caution. 

2) A dog lover and occasional feeder: Pursue feeding to dogs only in exceptional cases; eg - you see an extremely hungry or sick dog who needs immediate treatment or your help. If possible adopt street dogs instead of buying dogs of foreign breeds. Make sure that you dispose off your waste properly.

3) An extensive feeder:- I recommend you 'not' to stop feeding stray dogs since now they completely depend on you for food. If you stop feeding them they will get hungry and aggressive which will only give rise to more problems. Make sure that the dogs you feed are sterilized and vaccinated. Spread awareness about stray dog adoption and proper waste disposal. The burden of responsibility is highest for you but with the correct steps, we can maintain a healthy and safe environment for all human beings and future generations to come.

We all need to understand that nature has power and its own way to restore balance and it does not need any external help. We already have destroyed a lot of nature's balance, but nature will find a way to grow and restore it. But that doesn't give us the right to keep destroying nature. Though nature doesn't need our external help, after following the measures and solutions mentioned above, we can act as catalysts to help nature restore its balance and create an environment fit for our survival along with all living and non-living beings.



~Harshal Kshirsagar

Co-founder, Camouflage


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