The mauling of a 5-year-old girl by two pet Rottweilers at a Greater Chennai Corporation park at Nungambakkam on May 5 should not be used to portray particular breed of dogs as ferocious for there are no bad dogs but only bad owners, according to Madras High Court senior advocate and dog breeder R. Srinivas.
He says all dogs, irrespective of the breed, will have the intrinsic characteristic of having evolved from the wolves and that aggressive instinct may get manifested any moment. Therefore, it is expected of the owners to have the patience and eagerness to get well trained before beginning to rear dogs.
In so far as the corporation park incident is concerned, he says, no pet owner should be allowed to take a dog to a public place without a leash. Those who unleash their dogs in places such as parks, where children play and are susceptible to get scared by the sight of the animals, must be penalised heavily.
Mr. Srinivas points out dogs can be reared either with aggressive instinct, by keeping them aloof from outsiders, or made to be very friendly by letting them mingle with as many people as possible. They have highly pliable characteristics and therefore it is up to the owners to mould them accordingly.
“It is a crime to rear dogs without getting trained properly to do so. The very fact that a gentleman, residing near the park, was able to save the girl from the two Rottweilers is evidence enough to prove that the animals could have been controlled but the owners were miserably ill equipped to handle them,” he adds.
Contending that a majority of the dog bites happen only because of stray dogs, he says, the strays lack human touch. When they cannot scavenge enough food, they return to their wolf instinct of hunting in packs with one of them serving as the ring leader and the others falling in line to create a chain of command.
“Pet dogs are different. They can be controlled and their characteristics can be changed completely but people should not rear dogs just because they have money and can spend it on the animals. They should also have the inclination to learn the techniques of controlling the animals,” he advices.
Animal rights activist S. Muralidharan too contends that one cannot brand certain dog breeds to be “ferocious” solely because of their looks. He says, Rottweilers are basically guard dogs which induce fear in a person because of their sheer size, weight and looks but they can be friendly too.
“The look of the dog may terrorise you but moulding its characteristic completely depends upon the owner. There are owners who pet and sing songs for Rottweilers. They behave like a baby. They will never hurt you. The problem with the corporation park incident is improper rearing,” he says.
Animals know to differentiate between kids and adults. Dogs or cats, that are taken care of properly by their owners, will even make sure that their nails do not hurt kids when they play with them. “Those two Rottweilers who mauled the kid in the park must certainly be suffering from issues in rearing,” he feels.
Stating a leash and a muzzle are a must when pet owners take their dogs to public places, he says, “The owners of the two Rottweilers should have been booked under more stringent provisions of the Indian Penal Code so that it sends a strong signal to all other pet owners and avoid such incidents.”
