Anjukoli and other street Dogs of India

Street dogs have been a menace in Indian streets since times immemorial, but recently the unplanned growth of cities and towns and the councils unable to cope with the workload and improper disposal of household waste has led to disproportionate increase in the numbers of street dogs. There are regular news items about gang of street dogs attacking small children and sadly sometimes even killing them.

So why do people tolerate street dogs in India, there are several reasons for it. Traditionally these street dogs were the first line of defence in the villages against any intruders or against wild animals attacking the village, they acted as a alarm, these street dogs would start barking at any change in the environment and that would alert the villagers, the same tradition continued in the cities as well, some street dogs were fed by people so that they stayed near their house during the nights and alert them about any thieves entering their house. These street dogs worked out as a cheap means of protection of their property. The dogs themselves lived a rough life, scavenging for food , exposed to the elements and diseases.

Throughout Indian history there is mention of such dogs, they were part and parcel of Indian life since the dawn of civilisation in India. Lord Shiva himself has been shown to be followed by a dog when he ventures out to beg, Lord Buddha the same again, then the kings like Harischandra was known to have had a street dog as companion while he worked in the cemetery.

Anjukoli was one such dog which lived in 5th cross road, Robertsonpet, KGF, where we lived for nearly 15years. Anjukoli was a bitch i.e a female dog and had been living in the street for several years, and was legendary dog, its temper was so cool that it tolerated everything from kids pulling its tail, to getting stoned for no reason, I have never seen it hostile or angry or even bark on its own without its companion dogs doing so. It had given birth to several litter of pups but not many had survived, those little pups used to die young, either due to disease, hunger or were run over by vehicles , sometimes people used to take them to their places elsewhere. The legend of 5th cross has it that Anjukoli in its youth had killed and eaten five hens and hence had got the name Anjukoli (anji in tamil is five and Koli is hens). I think it died one day and its absence was not felt by anyone. I am sure each and every street, village all over India has such dogs.

Coming back to street dog menace, another reason why they are beneficial is that they compete with the rats for the scrap food and in the process keeps the population of rats under control. One good example is Surat city, which was devastated by Plague several years ago and one of the reasons for the outbreak was that all the street dogs were killed, which led to disproportionate increase in numbers of rodents which in turn led to plague. So the presence of street dog is good or bad will be an ongoing debate. As far as I am concerned it will be difficult to completely eradicate or exterminate the street dogs of India.