Less than a month after the Karnataka High Court quashed a central government circular seeking to prohibit the keeping, breeding, and sale of dog breeds considered “dangerous for human life”, the controversy over citizens keeping dogs as pets has erupted once again, following an incident in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, bordering the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
In the incident, a CCTV grab of which has been doing the rounds of social media, a German Shepherd Dog is seen lunging for a six-year-old girl riding a bicycle on the street. According to news reports, the incident took place earlier this week in the premises of a housing colony. As the video grab confirms, the dog was on a leash, but the woman with the animal struggles to restrain it and falls to the ground.
Another woman, identified by reports as the child’s mother, who appeared to have left the girl unattended and walked on ahead with a toddler, rushes back at the dog and its owner, leaving the toddler unattended for a few moments. As the dog turns to deal with the new threat, the woman with the leash manages to reel it in and bring it under control.
In the meantime, the child dismounts from her bicycle and runs along to her mother’s side as the mother beckons her and rushes back to the momentarily unattended toddler. The child’s parents have filed a complaint with the Ghaziabad police.
While the video grab on social media starts from the point the dog is lunging at the girl and the moments leading up to the incident are not seen, a Bombay-based canine behaviourist who spoke to TheSnout.in said it was possible the dog was triggered by something about the bicycle. The behaviourist explained that lunging in dogs, particularly when out for walks, is not always a sign of aggression but can also be the outcome of fear, with the animal trying to “create distance” between some stressful stimulus and itself.
Asked why the animal would not simply growl if the goal was to create distance between itself and the perceived threat, the behaviourist said it was possible the animal had been punished in the past for growling at people, but that could only be confirmed by someone who knew its personal history.
Also Read: Preventing dog bites is not rocket science
The incident has reignited the seemingly never-ending social media row between those who dislike animals and those who love them and think people must learn to coexist with them. The incident does highlight a few issues beyond this argument, however.
While German Shepherd Dogs are large sheep dogs and can be fearsome, they were not included in the list of “dangerous” dogs in the government’s circular of March 12 issued by O.P. Chaudhary, joint secretary in the department of fisheries, animal husbandry, and dairying.
Also called Alsatians, these dogs are known to be courageous, confident, easy to train, and possessing a high degree of intelligence. For these very reasons, they are often used in police and military work around the world. Properly socialized, the breed is said to be good with young children and affectionate with family, not just the feeder.
But the fact also is that they are strong animals and need to be trained well if they are residing in a populated place rather than a farm with lots of open space and few strangers. Sending such an animal out for a walk in a place with lots of visual, aural, and nasal stimuli in the care of a person who simply cannot control it is an invitation to trouble.
Also Read: 5 tips to help your pet weather the summer
A long-time pet owner who has had several dogs and cats as companions over the years said another aspect that stands out is how people, while venting against animals and other “threats” in public spaces, refuse to take basic precautions of their own, such as never letting young children out of sight and walking with or behind them rather than ahead of them. Never mind a dog, even a kidnapper could make off with the child and they wouldn’t know until it was too late, the pet owner said. As the video shows, expecting bystanders to react and help is futile.
The pet owner was also critical of those who keep large imported breeds in the unsuitable Indian climate in crowded cities and towns “just to show off”. This tendency, the pet owner said, appeared to be more pronounced in and around the national capital and surrounding regions. “If you want to keep a dog, adopt one off the streets or from a shelter,” the pet owner suggested. In all cases, understand your animal’s impulses, signals and behaviour, the owner added.
The behaviourist also said, “Every pet parent needs to understand their dog’s behaviour and learn to manage it well. The key component is to focus on the bond they have with their dog, one built on trust, patience, etc., rather than treat-based basic obedience commands that take away a dog’s free will.”
A video of a pet German Shepherd dog apparently biting a child in an apartment society in Ghaziabad.
My observations:
1. Dog parent (in black) doesn’t appear to have any handling skills for a medium sized breed of dog. Fell over at the first tug of the leash in paved ground… pic.twitter.com/TdFDEUPrse
— Anand Sankar (@kalapian_) April 30, 2024
A German shepherd can’t be a pet . It’s a wild dog and must be banned or can be kept in a private house and not a housing society. https://t.co/NjEquzX7lC
— Sumit (@sumitsaurabh) April 30, 2024
Sandy Pawpaw
Sandy Pawpaw is a fierce advocate of unleashing the animal in, and with, you.