A2 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019
At a neighborhood meeting on street dogs
in Vadodara, a city of two million people in
the Indian state of Gujarat, residents com-
plained that the dogs were stealing shoes
left on racks outside their homes.
One woman said that unfortunately, the
dogs preferred new shoes, and that she had
lost three pairs. I was there with Faizan
Jalil, a social psychologist and the head of
community engagement for Asia and Afri-
ca for the Humane Society International.
He had organized this group and others
like it as part of a program to improve
human interactions with street dogs.
He posed a question to the group in
Hindi, causing laughter and nods of recog-
nition at a point well made. What he had
said, he explained to me, was that certainly
the dogs were at fault for the first theft. But
when it happens three times, he said, “Who
is to blame?” They agreed it was not the
animals.
As a science reporter for The Times, I
have written often about dogs, and their
evolution, intelligence and behavior. I was
in India reporting on dogs and rabies and
trying to learn about the interspecies rela-
tionship in a country where an estimated
20,000 people die each year from rabies
after they are bitten by infected dogs.
That’s a large portion of the estimated
59,000 deaths worldwide.
Once symptoms appear, 99 percent of
rabies victims die. Dr. Jalil explained to me
that, although no country in the world
offers more protection to street dogs, con-
flicts are inevitable. To reduce them, and
improve rabies prevention, the Humane
Society now concentrates on spay and
neuter programs, which include but don’t
focus on vaccination, to reduce dog popula-
tions.
The society also works to educate and
listen to communities about their concerns.
Dr. Jalil said that street dogs, or indis, as
they are sometimes called, are sometimes
loved, mostly tolerated, and occasionally
hated. The people in Vadodara were some-
where in the middle — dog likers, perhaps.
They wanted less noise, but not fewer dogs.
And many of them fed the dogs roti, the
Indian flat bread. But it had to be buttered,
they said. The dogs didn’t like it plain.
I spent about 10 days in India, and dogsof every shape and size were everywhere,
and, as Dr. Jalil said, mostly ignored. Dogs
just outside of the Mumbai airport caused
no stir. Others lying on the sidewalk in
Chinchinim, Goa, amid stores and markets,
or in front of a church, seemed invisible.
People walked around them, taking their
presence for granted, much the way New
Yorkers do with pigeons.
Of the people I spoke to, nobody admit-
ted to hating the dogs, but their sentiments
ran the gamut from annoyed to in love. At
another educational meeting, run by the
nonprofit organization Mission Rabies,
people complained about the dogs at a
crossroads at night, where they would
gather in a pack and threaten motorbike
riders.
Walking through a neighborhood in
Chinchinim with Mission Rabies workers,
one dog owner with a couple of pets said
she fed the unowned street dogs, which
made her neighbors mad. But, she said,
she didn’t care.
I saw a few owned dogs on chains, or in
cages, as well as those who ran free. And
purebred dogs seem to be becoming more
popular, and may be as pampered as the
most treasured Manhattan lap dog.
The best story by far that I heard about
dogs came from Dr. Jalil himself. He and
his wife were supportive of the street dogs
in their neighborhood, but never planned
to have a pet. One night, he and his wife
heard something banging and clawing at
the door. It was a dog that he recognized
and later named Julie.
“So Julie took us to this place,” he said,
“a burrow sort of thing, in the park, and
directed me toward that. There were four
puppies, just newly born pups.” He took
them all home and Julie followed. He found
other homes for two of the pups, but from
that time on, Julie and the other two lived
with them. It seemed like a kind of destiny.
Julie has since died, Dr. Jalil said, but he
still has the two pups, now grown. It has
been seven years and he still recalls the
experience as amazing. “It was so emo-
tional,” he said.
He had not planned on ever owning a
dog, but having been chosen, as it seemed,
he could not refuse.Inside The Times
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORYA dog on the playground at the Jesus and Mary Sarvajanik High School in Goa, India.ATUL LOKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESThe Familiar Street Dogs of India
By JAMES GORMANRead Mr. Gorman’s reporting at
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