The INDog-Dhangar-Karwani - mix-breeds of the Deccan Plateau

Above: A pure INDog, very rare in the area
Below: "Indian" mix-breeds typical of the Western Deccan











Last weekend I saw a completely different type of mix-breed from the Indo-Eurobreed kind we normally see in cities. For the first time, this was a completely “Indian” mutt!

My husband and I were visiting the grasslands of the Solapur area of the western Deccan Plateau. This is a very different landscape from the forested areas I’ve visited before: these are vast open savannas as far as the eye can see, dotted with herds of beautiful blackbuck (Indian Antelope)…alternating oddly with cattle, goats and sheep. Cows and goats wander into protected areas, wolves prey on livestock, blackbuck graze anywhere they like and dogs run into the sanctuary nearby. Understandably there is a lot of conflict and controversy over all this… It seems particularly hard to keep domestic and wild animals isolated from each other in such a place; at least that’s what I, with my limited knowledge, concluded.

Of course I went on my usual search for pure INDogs, but they are a very rare sight here, indeed close to non-existent. This is sheep country and hare country and blackbuck country, so two very interesting Indian dog breeds predominate: the thick-coated Dhangar Dog (sheep dogs of Maharashtra) and the thin, elegant sighthound known as Karwani, Caravan Hound or Mudhol Hound.

Almost all the pet and free-roaming dogs here are a mix of INDog, Dhangar and Karwani, in varying proportions. Villagers use them as livestock guardians. The pure INDog in the first picture is one of the very few I saw in this region; the other dogs shown are typical of the area.

A far less pleasant sight was the huge amount of garbage liberally strewn around all the villages. There seems to be no system of garbage disposal, and this is probably the reason for the scattered population of scavenging dogs living in the area (at least so I would imagine going by the universal connection between garbage and dogs). As always, both dogs and wild animals have to pay the price for human sloppiness.

A long-term solution is possible if the local administration would set up a sustainable system for prompt waste disposal, at the same time educating villagers about the issue. It could be done if the authorities would shake off their apparent apathy on this subject: but then in India there is such a deeply-ingrained acceptance of garbage as part of the scenery that no-one even notices or comments on it. As a society we are just not civic-minded and this is the root cause of many of our problems.

Over the years I have had little reason to believe that anyone has the will or common sense to go in for large-scale long-term solutions. I can’t help hoping for one though, and I’m offering up my completely unimportant opinion for what little it’s worth.

Solapur District,
Maharashtra