These alert dogs prevented a burglary in the housing society they live in (Shakuntal Society, Usmanpara), in February this year.
Protecting territory from intruders is a largely unacknowledged service performed by street and building dogs across urban India. Ironically, these dogs were unpopular with the society residents prior to this incident. Dog-lover Meenal Shah had been told to stop feeding them. Their status changed once they displayed their true worth. Long live INDogs!
Click here for Lisa Warden's video about these dogs, posted earlier in this blog.
Click here to read the "watchdog database" I've been compiling, documenting cases in which Indian dogs (INDogs and Pariah-mix) have proved to be good guard dogs. If you know of similar incidents please email me!
And here I've copied the news report that appeared in Times of India, 20 February 2010:
Stray dogs scare away thieves
Vasundhara Vyas Mehta/TNN
‘Ahmedabad: Manjula Shah had a bad cold that woke her up at 4.40 am on Friday. This resident of Usmanpura got up to clear her throat and was annoyed by the stray dogs barking around the housing society.
Irked by the pack of dogs, Shah, 60, who lives on the first floor of Shakuntal Society peeped out of her room window. What she saw shocked her. An unidentified vehicle had come inside the society gate. The car took a round of the plot slowly, then stopped near a car close to the exit gate.
“Two men got off. They had torches and were looking around the place. Then they went close to the car nearest to them and started peeping inside. As they were about to break into the car, the stray dogs started barking. The hassled duo tried to turn them away, but the dogs kept barking. The two men panicked and decided to drive away,” said one of the neighbours.
“This is the dog family that society members have been trying to get rid of. They have even complained against feeding the dogs as they create a menace around here,” said Minal Shah, a businesswoman living in the society.
She added that she stopped feeding the dogs after encountering opposition from neighbours. “I used to do it discreetly. I am glad that people have realised the advantage of keeping them,” she said.’
Photos: Meenal Shah
Ahmedabad
