Africa snapsots

We've just returned from a fabulous trip to Tanzania followed by a few days in Cape Town and the beautiful Cape area.

The last two weeks have been filled with spectacular wildlife, ranging from big cats and ostriches to penguins and whales. There was very little time for anything else! But I did of course manage to click a few dogs.

Here they are:



Above, below: Maasai village, Tanzania, somewhere between Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. The Maasai, as everyone knows, are nomadic herdsmen. In Tanzania dogs do not seem to be used for guarding livestock on the same scale as in India. This was just my impression and it may be a wrong one, since I was in Africa for only a fortnight. They are used more often as watchdogs, and by some as hunting dogs, though not by the Maasai - this tribe doesn't hunt, they kill and eat only their own cattle. Only two of the many herds we saw were accompanied by dogs.

In this village we visited there were only four dogs (and 74 humans).





Above, below: This little brown bitch was the only healthy and well-fed one of the four. Two of the dogs were painfully thin and looked as if they wouldn't live long. However, this village may have been an exception, as all the other dogs we saw on our travels seemed healthy and well-cared-for. Probably the people here are very poor and don't have much food to spare. The landscape is quite barren in this area and life must be very hard.



These dogs were wary of strangers, and apparently not used to much petting. They didn't allow me to touch them. In fact, the bitch above wasn't really comfortable with even these villagers touching her.

Below: We met this handsome dog accompanying a herd of goats and two little Maasai boys, up on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. The dogs are very like our INDogs, but with bushier tails.





I didn't have time to click dogs elsewhere, though we did pass through villages occupied by another tribe, the Sukuma. They don't follow a traditional lifestyle like the Maasai, and the villages are much more prosperous and "mainstream." There were quite a few dogs lying around, all healthy and well-looked-after.

Our guide told us that vaccination of dogs against rabies is compulsory, and that the government vets do this free at regular intervals. Unvaccinated dogs are shot. Obviously, this is a very strong incentive for people to get their dogs immunized. The rule sounds harsh, but perhaps such draconian measures are needed to shake dog-owners out of their apathy. After all, if protection against rabies is provided free, there is really no excuse for not availing of it.

Another dreaded canine disease comes to mind while speaking of Tanzania: Canine Distemper Virus (CDV). In 1994 domestic dogs transmitted this virus to the lions in Serengeti National Park, resulting in the death of 1000 of these magnificent big cats. In fact, in the 1990s the Wild Dog population there was wiped out by CDV, and apparently they started making a comeback in the area only after the domestic dogs around the park were vaccinated against the disease.

I wonder when our Indian powers-that-be will understand the catastrophic consequences of these diseases for humans and animals. Are they aware that both the diseases are easily preventable? Even if they were smart enough to comprehend this simple information, it's unlikely that they would take any action. Can you imagine our authorities actually going around vaccinating dogs? That kind of thing is left to more intelligent and civilized nations. Stupidity and ignorance are the hallmarks of Indian officialdom, and we can only expect foolish policies that benefit neither man nor beast.

For those who think I'm being unnecessarily sarcastic, I am repeating a fact I mentioned in this earlier post: some of our municipal corporations are reported to actually capture street dogs from cities and villages and release them in wildlife areas, including in places like the Gir forest - last home of the Asiatic Lion - and the Rann of Kutch, home of the endangered Asiatic Wild Ass. A shining example of our government's attitude towards our vanishing wildlife, which they are supposed to be protecting. It's hard to imagine the plight of the poor dogs left in such areas.

So, back to Africa after that tirade. The dog below is not a Pariah Dog or any other type of African dog; he belongs to another ancient breed, the famous Anatolian Shepherd Dog or "Kangal." I photographed him in Stellenbosch not far from Cape Town, in the premises of a cheetah protection organization called Cheetah Outreach.

So what's a Turkish shepherd dog got to do with cheetahs? He's part of an interesting programme that provides these dogs to farmers in the region, as a non-lethal method of protecting livestock against cheetahs and other wild predators. The dogs are huge. Apparently the programme has had encouraging results in South Africa and Namibia.



And finally, the dogs we spent the longest time with in South Africa were two Indian dogs: Rishi and Leela! But I'm saving those pictures for another post.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area,Tanzania
Stellenbosch, South Africa

All about Rabies

My first exposure to the Rabies virus was in 1993. The incident was extremely traumatic and was my most important reason for starting street dog welfare work, something I did for the next 14 years.

At the time I was given an alarming pamphlet by the veterinary college, illustrated with a picture of a skeleton riding a horse. I felt that a much clearer FAQ was needed, with up-to-date information about diagnosis, symptoms and prevention.

One of the first things I did was gather information about rabies and compile a leaflet, which was printed and distributed jointly by two Mumbai NGOs (The Welfare of Stray Dogs and Plants and Animal Lovers Society). The information was provided by the World Health Organization (Geneva), Haffkine Institute (Mumbai), several Mumbai veterinarians and a molecular biologist. The FAQ is still in the WSD website. Click below for the link:

Rabies - What is true. What is false. What you must know.
However, it was last updated about three years ago, so newer information has not been included, notably about the oral anti-rabies vaccine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) site is a must-read for anyone interested in rabies. Click here.

And another must-read is the CDC site (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), though some of the information is specific to the USA and not applicable in India. Click here.

Sadly, rabies prevention is not a priority of our government at all, judging by the scant attention it gets. It would be so easy to eradicate this terrible disease if there was any real will to do so.

Click here for an earlier post on rabies in this blog.

Rabies and the Peruvian mutt

Latin American countries have free-roaming scavenging dogs just as we have - but much more successful rabies control programmes


Above: A dog in the little town of Chivay in the Colca Canyon


Above: People in the Andes keep a lot of livestock: llamas, alpacas, goats, sheep, sometimes cows. Invariably they also keep livestock guardian dogs. This is one of the few dogs I saw which had a pariah-type appearance.


Above: The market in Chivay. This dog was given a bone by the people who owned the meat stall.


Above: Chivay


Above: In another little town, Maca, a dog waits for a handout from a meat seller.


Above: Livestock guardian dog - I took the picture from the car


Above: My favourite - the little boy was as endearing as the dog


Above: Pup belonging to shepherds, in the high Andes


Above: In Cusco


Above: This dog looks as if he's accompanying the police!


Above and below: All these pictures were shot in Cusco in the high Andes









A few minutes drive from the airport into the city of Lima and I see an oddly familiar sight. A dog, without collar or leash or an accompanying human, trotting down the street. He’s a sort of a sheepdog, strong and well fed, and his long shaggy fur is a bit muddy and matted.

Another dog comes trotting to meet him from a nearby lane: a sort-of-a-poodle. And here comes another, a sort-of-a-german shepherd. The three dogs are very pleased to see each other and stand in a little knot on the pavement, sniffing each other and wagging tails vigorously.

Why am I writing about mutts on the other side of the world in a blog about INDogs? Here’s why.

There is one thing common to dog populations around the world: they are all susceptible to rabies. And since they are the animal closest to man, they are also the main reservoir of this disease for us humans.

Peru is very similar to India in two respects. First, there is a large and very visible street dog population. Much less abundant than ours, but still, it is unlikely that you will be able to walk down the streets of Lima, Cusco or Arequipa or small towns like Chivay or Maca without seeing dogs. They come in all shapes and sizes and I tried in vain to identify a primitive type there (the Peruvian Hairless Dog in my earlier post is an ancient indigenous breed but is not found on the road). It is rare to find two dogs in an area who resemble each other, and a typical pack has widely varied sizes and shapes and coats among its members, making me wonder whether these dogs actually do breed on the street. The original dogs of South America were of the generalized dingo-pariah type, but today only a very few in Peru look like pariah-mix dogs, and I saw just two perfect dingo-type dogs, one in Cusco and another near a shanty town in Arequipa.

I never saw a single one which was skinny or diseased in my two weeks in Peru. Many of the dogs seem to be pets who roam unsupervised. Judging by their appearance, I would guess that many ownerless dogs too are actually fed by people, though you can see lots of them tearing open trash bags early in the morning and scrounging for food.

Trash…that brings me to the second resemblance to India. Indians are the undisputed world leaders when it comes to chucking garbage in public places, but in some parts of their country Peruvians offer us stiff competition. Since the human population is smaller than ours they can’t create the impressive dumps that are such a common sight here, but there’s certainly enough food out there to sustain a good population of street dogs.

There seems to be a remarkable tolerance for dogs from what I could see, though I have also read complaints about them in several sites and blogs. I’ve also read some sensible suggestions that people should stop littering as a preventive measure.

Here the similarities end. There is an enormous difference between Peru and India in the official attitude to rabies and its control.

The disease is 100% fatal but also very easily preventable with mass vaccination campaigns for dogs as well as post-exposure treatment of humans. Latin America has done an admirable job of decreasing rabies incidence in the region. According to the World Health Organization’s Expert Consultation Report of 2004: “Over the region, approximately 45 million dogs a year have been vaccinated, resulting in significant declines in canine and human rabies.” I was told in Arequipa (Peru’s second-largest city) that every year the street dogs are vaccinated. WHO attributes the success of Latin America’s rabies control programme to political commitment and efficient planning and execution by the health services. “Key to the success of campaigns in Latin America has been the central role played by the public health sector as a lead agency and community/involvement/empowerment in rabies control activities.”

And what have our Indian authorities done to control this totally preventable disease? Have they followed the example of Latin America? Far from it. In spite of the staggering 20,000+ Indians who are estimated to die of rabies every year, the disease appears to get just a little more importance than acne. Of course there is much bow-wow rhetoric from rabble-rousing politicos about the “street dog menace,” but I’m sure it will come as no surprise that most civic bodies have either completely ignored or else actually opposed the World Health Organization’s recommendations to carry out mass vaccination campaigns for free-roaming dogs. They have had the shrill support of a variety of well-meaning but poorly-informed do-gooders around the country, who have little knowledge of dog behaviour and have probably never stepped into a slum or near a garbage dump. With only a few small animal welfare NGOs struggling to vaccinate the large urban dog populations, and nobody doing anything at all in rural areas, we are light years away from achieving the success of Latin America.

I may be wrong in some of my assumptions about Peru’s street dog population, and since I don’t speak Spanish there were only a limited number of people I could ask for information. If anyone reading this wants to correct anything I’ve written or throw more light on this topic, please feel free to write to me or leave a comment here.

Rabies control drive in Nagaon

These photos of pet INDogs were taken by Rohan Mukerjee on our recent trip to Nagaon to vaccinate village dogs against rabies. As Rohan is a professional (and obsessive!!) photographer, our vaccination drive was punctuated by frequent photo sessions, some of the results of which I am posting here. Many of the villagers keep INDogs as pets, but like all village dogs they are free to roam as they please. The two females in the second picture appear to be INDog-mix - this hybridization is getting increasingly common in the Alibag area, which is touristy and is also full of city people's weekend bungalows.

Coming to rabies, this is a very real threat in rural areas. Last year a rabid dog entered the village and bit several dogs, some of whom got the disease. My aunt's dog Lucy was also bitten but I immediately brought her to Mumbai for a post-bite course of injections.

On March 26, Rohan and I went from house to house immunizing all the dogs we could catch. I am hoping to vaccinate more dogs with his help, over one or two more trips. Rabies is incurable and victims, human and non-human, die a horrifying death as their central nervous system degenerates. Canine victims are almost always clubbed to death by locals, while humans suffer from hallucinations, agitation and hydrophobia and die without a shred of dignity in hospital isolation wards.

All this tragedy can be easily prevented by vaccinating dogs, the main vector of the disease in our part of the world. What a shame that rabies eradication is so completely neglected in India. South American countries have done a great job of controlling this disease through dog vaccinations - why can't we do the same?

Photos: Rohan Mukerjee

INDogs in the Sundarbans

This is one of the many pet INDogs I saw recently in the villages of the Sundarbans, West Bengal. Many households have pet dogs and cats, who all seem to be in great condition though they are fed only leftovers, and not large quantities either (people here are very poor). Almost all dogs conform to the "long-term pariah morphotype." There are a few unowned dogs hanging around the marketplaces, who are tolerated and treated well by villagers - they are all very friendly and not at all afraid of people. These "market" dogs often have itchy skin and some hair loss, though by no means as bad as our city dogs. It is probably caused by fleas.

I heard something very tragic from one of the villagers though. I asked him what the local people do when their dogs fall ill, hoping to hear of some interesting new herbal remedies. He said simply, "We kill them."

Naturally I was horrified by his answer, but it is not a great idea to be judgemental without knowing all sides of a story. So I asked what illness the dogs got. He described something for which he didn't have a name, but which was clearly rabies. Apparently this is the only disease the dogs get, and in such cases the dog's owner has to kill it (with a stick), or else allow other villagers to do it. Sometimes a doctor would come and kill it with an injection. Apparently a year or two ago there was an epidemic and many dogs were killed.

As I said, it's hard to make judgements here. Obviously a rabid animal cannot be allowed to roam around transmitting the disease, and since vets and facilities for humane euthanasia are in short supply, this is the fate of most rabid dogs in India - including those in city slums.

The only other disease they get is skin disease. Nobody bothers about this and unlike city people, villagers are not paranoid about skin disease spreading to humans. In Mumbai I've noticed a lot of people actually think skin disease is a symptom of rabies (I think they confuse rabies with scabies). These villagers are better informed.

What a shame rabies control is given so little importance in India. It is so easy to prevent this disease with annual vaccination. The government vets in this area could easily carry out anti-rabies vaccination drives once a year - there don't seem to be too many dogs per village and they are all friendly and easy to handle. Since these villages are right next to the tiger reserve area, rabies epidemics are surely a huge threat to wildlife - though of course villages are all on islands and separated from each other by rivers and canals...still, tigers do swim a lot there and frequently cross from one island to another, so one can imagine some calamity just waiting to take place.

In Mumbai NGOs have been vaccinating dogs on the street for many years, and in much larger numbers in recent years. It really wouldn't cost a lot to vaccinate the dogs in some of these villages at least. If I lived in that part of the country, I think I could have organized something. But almost all animal welfare NGOs are too small to extend activities beyond their own towns. If anyone reading this has the interest and capacity to organize a vaccination drive there, please do get in touch - NGOs here could provide guidelines on how to carry it out. Write to me on rajashree.khalap@gmail.com

Incidentally, this photo was taken in a beautiful village called Pakhiraloy, full of flowers and birds. I found it hard to imagine the nightmarish place it must have become when all those dogs were beaten to death.


Rajashree Khalap
Sundarbans