For India’s street dog debate, lessons from a mother in rural Rajasthan

When I was growing up in a village in Rajasthan, my mother would feed the first roti she made to a dog. No matter how eager I was to eat, she would firmly set aside the first roti for the street dogs, ensuring she wouldn’t forget them as she busied herself with the day’s chores.

Feeding ants was another one of her regular acts. Villagers are typically not pet keepers. They have neither the means nor the leisure to care for them. Milk-giving creatures such as cows and buffaloes were more pragmatic choices as domestic animals. Yet they affectionately care for the dogs and cats around them.

On the way out of the village, there was a spot where dogs waited for the working men on cycles to toss them rotis. Only two better-off families had their own dogs. They were status symbols, much like their jeeps, refrigerators, and telephones. The village never had to debate the question of dogs.

Curiously, dogs were a subject of debate at Jawaharlal Nehru University when I arrived there to study two decades ago. There were dog lovers – mostly women – who would care for the dogs outside their hostels, feeding them biscuits and leftovers from the mess, and...

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