FAQs

Why do street animals exist?

Street dogs and feral cats exist in large numbers in developing country like India:

1.       Human settlements (urban and rural both) inevitably create a noticeable amount of garbage that lies exposed. This essentially enables the street animal’s existence. The animals quickly learn to scavenge. In the absence of this food source, they would have a a tougher time sustaining.

2.       Couple this with their high reproduction rates and numbers. A female dog gives birth to an approximate of two litters of 4-10 pups each year. Cats have a higher number of three to four litters of up to 3-9 kittens annually. Thus the entire population grows exponentially over years.

3.       Cities and towns in India have a huge amount of population surviving on the streets (Mumbai has an astonishing 60% of its population living on the streets!). The street dwellers, humans and animals, share a rather strong interdependence with regards to their psychological well-being and security taking care of each other.

4.       Shopkeepers and others take active interest in tending to the needs of these animals, feeding them and looking out for their health.

Are there laws pertaining to the rights and welfare of street animals?

India endorses ahimsa (non-violence) and this has always enabled people to peacefully co-exist with animals. It is a citizen’s duty to show compassion towards all living creatures according to Article 51A(g) of the Constitution. A fundamental freedom guaranteed to the citizens of India, is the freedom to choose the life they wish to live, which includes facets such as living with or without companion animals and moreover assigns a duty to ensure animals are taken care of and respected whist watching out for any kind of cruelty towards them. Resident Welfare Organisations and Apartment owners associations cannot object pets as companions and cannot form laws against it, neither against permissible ways of housing and feeding street animals within society boundaries, even by majority. A “ban” for animals/pets is considered illegal by the law.

The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has listed down in detail, all acts, rules and laws pertaining to the rights of animals and prevention of cruelty on their website. (http://www.awbi.in/policy_acts_rules.html )

Are there any provisions to keep the street animal population under control?

Large populations of stray dogs and cats turn into public health concerns. Dog bites, rabies, leptospirosis, cat scratch fever, and so on are all risks for people living in areas with large populations of strays which often leads to territorial fights and incessant barking at nights. While it’s important to ensure the welfare of street animals, it’s equally important to keep a check on their population to control the spread of diseases and prevent possible bites and attacks.

Animal Welfare Board prescribes Animal Birth Control Rules, 2001 (ABC) as the only effective methodology of keeping the street animal population under check along with vaccinations. The Honorable Supreme Court of India has further ordered the implementation of the ABC program to control the street dog population in all states of India since 2015.

ABC involves spaying of females and castration of male dogs so that they do not reproduce. Vaccination involves giving the dogs an anti- rabies shot. After sterilization the dogs do not reproduce and hence their population becomes stable. As they are vaccinated against Rabies and other diseases they do not pose any health hazard and live out their natural lives healthily and harmlessly, while protecting their territories from other aggressive dogs that may want to enter.

What are the broad categories of differentiation in animal identification as a pet and a street animal?

Definitions are based on two quantifiable parameters: the level of an animal's dependency on humans and the level of its restriction by humans (World Health Organization, 1988).

 The first of these refers to the intentional provision of those needs, such as food, shelter and care, necessary for the survival and well-being of the animal. Although it was recognized that this dependency of animals on humans was a gradient ranging from total dependency to none, the following three categories of dependency were proposed:

•Full dependency – the animal is given all of its essential needs intentionally by humans

•Semi-dependency – the animal is given some of its essential needs intentionally by humans

•No dependency – the animal is given none of its essential needs intentionally by humans.

The second parameter, restriction by humans, refers to the control of any contact, association and communication with other animals and people, either through physical restriction (e.g. confinement to premises, leashing) or through direct supervision and control when outside the premises. Again, three categories of restriction are recognized:

•Full restriction – fully restricted or supervised

•Semi-restricted – movements and associations only partially restricted

•No restriction – not subject to any restriction whatsoever.

 Four broad categories of animals which exist:

•Restricted animal – fully dependent on their owners and fully restricted or supervised

•Family animals – fully dependent on their owners, but movement and contacts only partially restricted

•Neighborhood animals – partially dependent on the intentional fulfilment of basic needs by humans, but subject to only partial or no restriction

•Feral animals – independent of intentional human provisioning and unrestricted.