“Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.”

This quote by K. Davison strikes a deep chord in my heart.

And I’ll tell you why, in a moment.

 

India’s sentiment towards pet ownership has undergone a massive change in the last few years. From mere owners, we have transitioned into pet parents. We are splashing out love and resources on our fur-babies. But have we been biased? On one hand, we see a huge demand for dog breeds like Beagles, Boxers, German Shepherd and Labradors. But what we perhaps pretend not to see are the 35 million stray dogs – unattended, starving, waiting to be loved and petted.

We have always called a dog as our best friend. A friend who is in our local colony, sleeping under our car, changing his sitting spots through the day from one corner of the street to another and looking for leftover food in the rubbish dumps. He runs behind any new car that comes in our colony and wags his tail when he sees ours. These are our Desi / Indie dogs, a breed that has by far been ignored, almost as if they don’t even exist.

I wonder why we choose purebreds as opposed to adopting a stray dog. Perhaps it’s the status symbol, cute looks or a dense fur coat. But a pet is much more than that, isn’t it! And that is exactly why the quote above resonates deeply with me. I strongly believe it is time to bring home an Indie and here’s why I think so.

5 reasons why you should adopt a Desi breed / Indie

1. You save a life:

A dog’s entry in your life is a gateway to boundless love and happiness. That’s true for both of you. When you adopt street dog, you shower them with compassion. You cuddle them every minute of the day and pamper them with toys and treats. You give them a place that they can call as their forever home. But most importantly, you make it a mission of your life to take care of them. By not letting them stay unattended on roads, you rescue them from being run over by cars or beaten up by humans. You ensure that they don’t die of starvation or food poisoning. You save them from diseases / tumours that come with having a life of being on the street.

2. You take an important step towards stopping cruel breeding practices:

Puppy mills and backyard breeders are notorious for engaging in inhuman practices. Their sole aim is making profit at the expense of innocent lives. The animals are not fed properly and are forced to mate. They are kept in poor, unhygienic conditions and often given medicines to alter hormones and speed up reproduction. Pups produced in these ‘factory-line’ settings can face immense behavioural and medical issues throughout their lives. On the other hand, a stray dog is a master of his/her will. Their reproduction cycle is absolutely normal and results in the birth of a happy and healthy litter.

Puppy mills and backyard breeders are notorious for engaging in inhuman practices. Their sole aim is making profit at the expense of innocent lives. The animals are not fed properly and are forced to mate. They are kept in poor, unhygienic conditions and often given medicines to alter hormones and speed up reproduction. Pups produced in these ‘factory-line’ settings can face immense behavioural and medical issues throughout their lives. On the other hand, a stray dog is a master of his/her will. Their reproduction cycle is absolutely normal and results in the birth of a happy and healthy litter.

3. You save money:

A purebred can cost you a lot. In addition to the price of buying from the breeder, you may have to pay for their vaccinations and medical treatments if your dog’s health deteriorates owing to the poor conditions, they may have been brought up in. Adopting a dog will be relatively cheaper as the dog would be already sterilized and vaccinated by the charity before it goes through the adoption process.

4. They are quick to train:

Haven’t we all spotted stray dogs being so playful with their friends! And we have also seen them voluntarily guard our housing societies all the time. Training a desi pet is very easy as they are instinctively very alert, social, obedient and street smart. So much so, that our police force are recruiting and training Indies.

 

Haven’t we all spotted stray dogs being so playful with their friends! And we have also seen them voluntarily guard our housing societies all the time. Training a desi pet is very easy as they are instinctively very alert, social, obedient and street smart. So much so, that our police force are recruiting and training Indies.

5. They are low maintenance and easy to groom:

Indies’ skin needs little grooming as their fur coat is typically light and easy to maintain. They are adaptable to Indian climate. They usually don’t have needs of special diets or carefully regulated temperatures. However, purebreds are prone to lose hair if not looked after properly. They require carefully selected diet and controlled temperature. This can leave them to be restricted to a room or indoors only which can affect their health adversely

Conclusion

It is heartening to see many of us stepping ahead in this direction and painting love in the lives of our neglected desi breeds.

  • People for Animals or PFA is India's largest animal welfare association run by Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi. It's network is spread all over the country. Many of their initiatives are focused on stray animals, such as their adoption, and rescue & rehabilitation of needy animals. They also conduct education programs in schools and fight for animal rights & issues in courts.
  • World For All Animal Care & Adoptions is an animal welfare organisation based out of Mumbai. Their work in the field of animal adoption, rescues and sterilisations of the stray animal population, is commendable. Their initiatives have brought significant positive outcomes such as more than 7500 adoptions, 12,000 rescues etc.
  • Bangalore’s Police Force is training Indies instead of importing German Shephards. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rohini Katoch Sepat has taken this bold step to recruit stray dogs to assist police on night patrols. Kolkata Police has also inducted and trained Asha, the first desi cop.
  • Shimla Municipal Corporation launched the Street Dog Adoption and Management Programme. It rewards people for adopting stray dogs by exempting them from garbage collection fee and gives them free parking spaces.
  • Our beloved MSD (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) adopted a rescue pup from an animal shelter and named him Leah. What more, PETA sent her a cute T-shirt that says “100% Desi Dog”
  • Other celebrities like Ayushman Khurrana, Dolly Singh, Raveena Tandon, Dino Morea, and many more are also strong advocates of our desi dogs. They have adopted stray fur babes to send out a compassionate message to all of us.
  • You don't have to wait for the right time to start. These days many of us are already taking the first step to save our dear friends on the streets. Dog Walkies is one example. It is an initiative to promote the beauty of Indies. They are working towards highlighting stray animal's lifestyle to all the people, encouraging them to adopt more & more indies. In addition to that, she has a personal goal of feeding 200+ street dogs & cats on daily basis. More power to you!
  • Petfed also organises numerous adoption camps encouraging people to bring home a furry angel into their family.

There are countless ways to make this world a better place! Why not start with bringing home an innocent, ignored loved one? Please leave your comments below as to why you think our desi dogs make excellent pets