You go to the pet store, look for the cutest little pup with the softest white fur and the biggest brown eyes, buy it and bring it home. You name it, train it, play with it, pamper it, bathe it, feed it, collar it, take it on long walks and make yourself the most important living being in the eyes of the dog.
For you, it is a major part of your life. For the dog, you are its life; its whole world revolves around you.
All is fine until you have to leave the dog, out of compulsions such as moving to a neighbourhood where dogs are not welcome, or shifting to another city, or, if you are that cruel, just due to the fact that your pup isn’t cute anymore. And then you leave that little four-legged devotee of yours, either in a kennel or out on the roads.
I live with my two street dogs. Our neighbourhood is well-populated with canines, and there have been many cases of owners leaving their dogs here and driving away.
To people who desert the dog, the story ends there, probably with a little bit of heartache until another problem comes along in their lives.
But for the dog, a chapter of pure misery begins. Almost all the dogs that had been deserted near our place, would sit in a corner, refusing food, refusing to move, with a look in their eyes so sad it could melt the hardest of hearts.
Tail-wagging long forgotten, they stay so motionless that if it weren’t for the occasional moans, you’d think it was a rock. This one dog was in such a pathetic condition that when a bike accidentally hit it, it didn’t budge even though it was bleeding heavily. It didn’t even squeal — that was how little it cared about its own life. We thought it was dead, but on looking closely it was found to be all right, and after a trip to the veterinarian, it was as fit as ever.
I know it would be wrong to blame the owners, for they must have had their own compulsions. But there are more humane ways to leave the dog.
If you must leave the dog, you should first introduce it to some friend of yours who is willing to take it in. Starting from a few weeks before you have to leave, take it to your friend’s house daily, make sure the dog and its new caretaker like each other, and after a few days of introduction, start leaving it at the friend’s place for longer periods of time, gradually letting it stay for whole days at a time. After the dog feels comfortable, it’s safe for you to disappear. But the dog will still remember and love you, so keep visiting it.
shubha.vatsalya@ gmail.com
