Celebrating the Resilience of the Indian Pariah Dog

The Name, Pariah and the Indian Pariah Dog

Pariah is a derogatory term in India. This name represents a community of people, a caste, considered untouchable for centuries in the cruel caste system that prevailed. Although untouchability has been abolished by law, many 'upper caste' people still treat and think of the 'lower' castes, such as the Pariah, as far below them in social stature. In history, they ill-treated those in the caste hierarchy's lower rungs in unimaginably horrible ways.

The meaning of the word 'pariah' is 'outsider' in the Sanskrit language. The etymological meaning of this word thus signifies marginalisation and outcast treatment. The people belonging to the caste 'Pariah' and the breed of dogs named the same are outcasts. I am not trying to draw a reductionist parallel between humans and dogs and between the complex caste system in India and the treatment of stray dogs. The caste system is a complex and significant topic that is beyond the scope of this article. However, it is interesting to note that when the name of a caste was attributed to a dog breed, most probably by the British colonial biologists, the connotations were many – how certain communities in the society are treated by the powerful and the affluent sections of it and how the name representing these oppressed castes was given to a dog breed in a culture that saw dogs as low lives. This complexity reflects various societal issues.

Physiology of Indian Pariah Dog

Getting back to the dog breed that we are talking about, the Pariah or Pye dog is a beautiful and loveable dog. From now on, I will use the name Pye Dog in this article because, as I said above, the cultural connotations are too discomforting. Pye dogs are characterized by their sharply erect ears, wedge-shaped faces, and coiled tails. They are an ancient mixed breed that was born out of the nondescript Indian local breeds crossbreeding with the European dogs of the colonial settlers. The coat of a Pariah dog is short and tight. They are medium-sized. Dark brown-red and light brown-red are the most prevalent colours of this dog breed. Sometimes there will be some patches or shades of white or black on the brown-red coat. There will also rarely be pure blacks and pure whites. With a long and pointed muzzle that is curious and dark, and dark brown and almond eyes that spark with intelligence and love, these dogs are good house dogs and watchdogs. The other names for this dog are IND (Indian Native Dog), Desi Dog, and South Asian Pye dog. They have a resemblance to the Spitz breed. They require no grooming, and they shed their hair in very little amounts. They can survive on almost all types of food and, being native breeds in India, are very healthy and disease-resistant when kept inside this country. It is very easy to train them, though they are the curious type that loves to explore around.

The Indian Situation

The street dog’s main food source is municipal solid waste, for which, across the country, there are very few efficient processing facilities. In many cities, one can find waste dumps where the stray dogs camp and find food. In a sense, they function as scavengers and keep the population of rodents around these waste dumps under control. Despite this positive role in keeping the surroundings clean, most people fear and hate them.

The government of India has an Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme in place mainly aimed at keeping the street dog population at bay. However, as with many other government projects, its implementation lacks efficiency and a proper plan. Earlier, the local governments used to hire dog catchers who would catch street dogs and kill them in hundreds in the name of population control, though this amounts to cruelty against animals in legal terms and is forbidden.

The laws against cruelty to animals are outdated and have never been fully enforced. Recently, as some people began to take the law into their own hands and kill street dogs, the matter went into court, and the Supreme Court banned the killing of dogs. The court wanted the government to enforce the ABC programme with more rigour. After the court intervention, the ABC program works better than earlier, but much remains desired.

Street dogs in India have endured many hardships. However, with a bit of food or a gentle pat on the head, most can be befriended. It is disheartening to witness their longing for affection from humans, while we remain too indifferent and unfriendly to recognize and comprehend their need.

Stories of Intelligence and Love

In my place, the southernmost state of India, we grew up listening to stories about the love and dedication of Pye Dogs towards humans and how they would even sacrifice their lives to protect their owners.

In 2018, there was a tragic landslide in one of the hillocks in Munnar, a high-altitude hill station famous for tea cultivation. During the monsoon rains, an entire housing quarter of tea labourers with its inhabitants was swept away by a landslide. Many died buried alive in deep mud. The police and fire force recovered all the dead bodies except that of a small child. The search continued for days. Eventually, about one week after the accident, the Pye dog owned by that child’s family sniffed out the child’s body from the sludge that had almost settled. The dog had refused to move from the top of the debris and refused to take food until the rescuers started digging the pile only to find the body of the child. The dog named 'Kuvi' made headlines in the media for this act of love and intelligence.

Pye Dog vs Pure Breeds

In the late 1990s, when people began to prefer purebred dogs to the Pye dog, the lives of the strays got miserable. They had sustained themselves on the feed provided to them as community dogs. This feeding stopped as purebred dogs became the favourites. The Pyes were replaced with Labradors, Rottweilers, Pomeranians, German Shepherds and similar breeds. Pye dogs continued to breed on the streets, their puppies roaming around famished and uncared for. As the bond between humans and the Pye dog faded, hostility and fear grew on both sides. The government machinery was lackadaisical in regularly vaccinating the strays against rabies.

Support The Stray Dogs

• The majority of the dogs in the world, almost 80%, are free-ranging.

• They depend mainly on the leftover food from humans for their subsistence.

• They also bond with people they see daily or give them some attention and love.

• The stray dogs of India are not a problem to be dealt with but a part of our life and culture.

• They have every right to remain where they are, and the law mandates that even when captured for birth control surgery by government-designated squads, after healing, they are to be released in the same place from where they are caught.

• Even an adult Pye dog is easy to befriend.

Even from a utilitarian view, keeping and feeding them as friendly community dogs is much more practical than starving them in the streets, throwing stones at them, thus making them hostile, then creating a narrative based on fearmongering and finding excuses to kill them, branding them as monsters.

References

Indian Pariah Dog, Peter Richards, dogzone.com