Adopting love

When I was younger, a lanky child in my early teens, I met and fell in love with a brown and white indie stray, who had gotten himself into a literal dog fight and had his ear bitten off. 

He came to take refuge in the building I grew up in, where the kind security guards took him in and named him Moti. 

Over time the smart cookie learned to enter the building elevator,  and his partner in crime, Mama our liftman would let him out at random floors. Moti had learnt to take a leap…of faith and stride and figured out how to stand on his hind legs and ring doorbells with his outstretched paw. 

And every home in the building had a dedicated bowl of milk, bread and biscuits ready and waiting for our Moti, who stayed with the building for the rest of his years. 

The Supreme Court verdict for Delhi sent me down memory lane. 

Having said that, I have also over time been following the brutal news of several innocent victims of street dog attacks. Heartbreaking videos of young promising lives cut short by rabies. 

Of little children mauled to death. Of the elderly on their morning walk needlessly bitten.  

And as a citizen of society, I must recognise that my love and fondness for one should not be a nuisance to another. 

It’s not everyday that people in large numbers object to the verdict of the Supreme Court. It’s not everyday that people in one voice speak up for those that can’t. Yes, the planet belongs to all and human beings have no right to dictate who gets to live where. 

While this voice cannot and should not be ignored, the loss of  another life anywhere in any street should also weigh heavily on our collective conscience. 

Can we agree to find middle ground? Maybe take more initiative and contribute to this cause?

It would not be too difficult for every building to adopt a stray, and crowd fund its vaccination? Give it love and refuge and ensure it doesn’t need to be aggressive. 

Where this is not possible the municipal bodies or animal lovers outside of Instagram should volunteer and do the needful. 

A naivè suggestion? Perhaps. 

An oversimplified solution? Maybe. 

But it feels like a solution that’s fair to all can be achieved if we offer to actively commit.