Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter in GC, 7.1.09, titled ‘The stray dog nuisance needs to be focused upon.’ It is not a matter of choice but a matter of circumstances that a multitude of dogs roam the streets in search of something because they have nothing.
A narrative of street dogs forsaken and abandoned by owners who have migrated long ago would read:
‘We have been roaming the streets for years mixing and meddling with our other homeless street buddies. We wished to escape a life of not producing puppies but trouble was everywhere and we could not run, so you know the end result. We gave birth to scores of babies over and over thus populating the streets. We are heartbroken looking for our lost or stolen babies. We dread to think they are slain or hit by vehicles left alone to suffer in silence. Or our babies are all grown and they too have given birth over and over only to worry about a horrible street existence while oftentimes run over by vehicles.
‘We raise our unhappy heads and suffering eyes up to the sky praying for rain to wash our itchy scruffy bodies because society scorns us. It did rain and pour. Oh, wow, what a beautiful feeling; we could become man’s best friend again but we are not holding our breath for we are outcast dogs, voiceless, helpless and always at the mercy of cruel human hands.
‘How we long to beg for owners, our best friends, but we have no voice and our sad, weary, crying eyes are shunned. Our scornful life is a daily struggle for basic food and water. But let me tell you that our food and water are not nice and tasty like yours. Our daily intake to satisfy hunger and thirst is contaminated with infectious diseases, having to eat from street garbage washed down with dirty water. But we cannot protest our contempt, since we have no voice or choice.
‘Permit me, human race, to jolt your absent-mindedness to notice our troubles. We are dogs with vital organs as we too are living entities like you. We can contract chronic contagious diseases; the only difference is, if you are diagnosed with such ailments you will get treated. But we are street dogs and could never dream of such a privilege, so we mercifully request your table scraps that could lessen our malnourishment before the gates of doggie heaven open to accept us. Happy days are here again.
‘We are dogs with a fundamental right to life, just like you, so please do not judge us by our misfortune. It was our masters who committed us to a lifetime sentence on the streets.’
Here are some initiatives to expand and build on. Encourage people to fence their yards to contain and enclose their dogs. Spay and neuter your dogs to minimize the population. Vacant plots of lands with barriers and sheds can be utilized as sanctuaries for your dogs. Provide shelter to control and oversee your dogs. To reduce their suffering, do not add to the street population.
Yours faithfully,
Zenobia Williams
