When Indie dogs stole the show

They are loyal, protective, sturdy, low-maintenance, easy-to-please, and make for excellent guard dogs. But Indie

dogs

have been given a pariah status when it comes to having them as

pets

. And, sadly, a few stray incidents of aggression and biting displayed by these otherwise lovable mongrels make them, quite literally so, a case of give the dog a bad name and hang him. But thanks to some, well, dogged determination and efforts of Indie enthusiasts and animal activists, it looks like, in Chennai, at least, the Indie may not be in the doghouse forever. At a recent event, Indie dogs were the showstoppers and ramp walkers as they wagged their tails, rolled their eyes, strutted their stuff and got their share of applause, belly rubs, cuddles and coos. Every dog has its day, and the

Indie dog

’s day is here!
“The idea behind these kinds of events is also to encourage people to adopt

Indian dogs

rather than buying pedigree dogs,” says Dr R Siva, chief veterinarian from an animal welfare organisation. Agreeing with him is actress Aditi Balan, who says, “I came last year for

The Great Indian Dog Show

. I am here this year as well. I think it’s going to be a yearly affair for me.” I just have one thing to say. We have a lot of dogs on our streets. So, instead of buying, adopt dogs. Here, it is good to see many people, who adopt our street dogs instead of buying pedigree dogs. I take care of dogs in our area.”
Pedigree dogs maybe a matter of status for many, but they are really unfit to survive the climatic conditions here is what Dr Siva says. “With a lot of hair, it’s really hard for them to survive this hot weather and they often fall sick. And when the owners are not able to handle the dog, they leave it on the streets. Now, we’ve around 70 to 80 pedigree dogs which we found abandoned on streets.”
Dr Nandita Krishna, a member of the governing body of Blue Cross, adds, “I have pedigree dogs, but all of them have been found and brought home from the streets after being abandoned by its previous owners. Pedigree dogs develop a lot of health problems because of inbreeding. Laksh, a pedigree dog, which I have, is not even two and it already has health problems. If you really want a dog that’s healthy and that you want to enjoy as a pet, you should go for an Indie dog.”
Unlike the general perception that only pedigree dogs are used for pet therapy, Dr Nandita, who also trains dogs to become pet doctors, says, “Tulsi, a mongrel, is the one that I send as a doctor dog to work with special children at Saraswathi Kendra Learning Centre for Children. She works with kids for about an hour every day. One important thing is that the doctor dog has to be in the pink of health and willing to do it. We know from the characteristics of a dog if it is fit to be a doctor dog. Children will do all sorts of things to the dog. Suddenly, they’ll smother the dog, with love, but the dog may not like it. That’s why we need to check the dog’s temperament. Tulsi dislikes dogs, but she’s happy around people. I had another mongrel earlier which was a doctor dog.”
Many dog owners, who have now adopted once-abandoned pets, have inspiring and adorable stories to tell. Kala, who lives in Washermanpet, shares one such story. “I’ve been feeding street dogs for the last 12 years. And whenever I see an abandoned dog which is handicapped, I bring it home. Today, I’ve 36 of them at our rented home. My husband has got a car. Every day, we take two of them outside in the car. Or, sometimes, take them to our relatives’ houses,” she shares. Two other dog lovers from IIT-Madras, Vivek K Vishwanath and Neema Davis, tell us about a mongrel named Gabbar, which live on campus. “We sometimes call him Gabbu. He’s a tumour survivor. Like him, we’ve hundred-plus dogs on campus All of them have been left here by somebody at some point of time. We feed all of them and vaccinate them. We’ve created a profile for each one of them; it has their names, history, and medication details,” says Vivek.