Street Dogs: India’s Untouchable Menace
Let’s start with a confession:
I don’t like dogs. Yes, any dogs. Not your pampered poodle, not your tail-wagging Labrador, not even your adorable Indie rescue. And before you send me hate mail, I’ll say it straight — I’m even scared of them. Don’t know what childhood trauma caused it. Certainly not something a therapist or even a Solh subscription can cure.
But here’s the thing — this is not about my fear or dislike.
This is about the stray dog menace in India.
For years, we’ve tiptoed around the subject because it’s been wrapped in an emotional, misplaced sense of compassion. But the reality?
Street dogs in India are not just biting people. They’re hunting.
I’ve seen it with my own eyes — dogs forming packs like trained predators, chasing, cornering, and attacking. These are not isolated cases. Ask the parents whose children have been mauled. Ask the bikers who’ve fallen and broken bones while swerving to avoid a sudden chase. Ask the joggers who’ve had to change their route, or worse, their lifestyle, because the local dog gang has claimed the park as theirs. These street dog attacks in India are far more common than people admit.
The recent Supreme Court verdict and the endless social media commentary around it have turned this into a false binary:
“Either you love dogs or you’re a cruel monster.”
No. Loving dogs is fine. Owning a pet is fine. But why should stray dogs problem in India even exist?
We cull mosquitoes to prevent malaria. Imagine if people developed the same bizarre emotional attachment to mosquitoes as they do to street dogs. “Let them live, they’re part of nature!” — and suddenly, malaria would be the next national heritage.
No one is asking anyone to give up their beloved pets. No one is calling for a ban on dogs. The question is simply: why is India the only country where packs of stray carnivores are allowed to roam our streets, terrorising people in broad daylight?
We pride ourselves on being a civilisation of empathy, but what about empathy for the human victims?
At some point, the right to walk safely on a street must outweigh the right of an animal to live unchecked on it.
This is not animal cruelty. This is basic civic sense. And until we can have an honest, fear-free conversation about the stray dog menace in India, street dogs in India will keep ruling our roads — and we’ll keep pretending it’s “normal”.