Maneka Gandhi responds to queries raised by animal lovers across Mumbai.
What is the difference between stray dogs and mongrels?
Stray is merely a legal term indicating an animal that is ownerless and homeless. It does not refer to the breed of the dog. When pedigreed breeds are lost or abandoned on the street by their owners, they also become strays. A mongrel is a dog of mixed or indeterminate breed. Both the terms stray and mongrel are commonly — and erroneously — used to denote a pariah Dog. Pariahs are a distinct breed of dog, coming under the category of primitive or aboriginal breeds. Since they are not commercially recognised, this fact is not widely known. In India, most strays are Pariah Dogs or mongrels. Once a Pariah or mongrel gets adopted as a house-pet, it ceases to be a stray. We call them Indian dogs.
I sometimes see dogs with skin problems and hairless patches — aren’t they all rabid?
Skin problems and fur fall are not symptoms of rabies. Rabies affects the central nervous system, not the skin. Probably the confusion occurred because this is a skin disease called scabies, which is easily curable. Strangely, this question is asked quite often in India.
Isn’t it sad that stray dogs have to eat garbage?
Archaeological studies indicate that wolves started living near human settlements so that they could eat the garbage thrown outside. Dogs evolved from these wolves, and have always been scavengers. Unlike humans, they do not view garbage with disgust. In fact, even a well-fed pedigreed dog will make trips to the dustbin when his owners aren’t looking. Of course, eating garbage has its risks; since once in a while a dog may eat something poisonous bt many strays lead long and healthy lives with no other source of food.
My groomer wants to clean my dog’s teeth while he’s getting groomed. Is this a good idea?
It is a wonderful thing to have your pet’s teeth brushed while at the groomer. However, with regards to the groomer physically removing dental tartar — absolutely not! Several problems crop up when groomers manually scrape tartar off your dog’s teeth. First of all, the dog is fully awake, not sedated; if he has gingivitis, scaling his teeth will be painful. This is a terribly inhumane thing to do to a dog. In addition, only visible tartar can be scaled away with hand tools; tartar below the gumline, the main source of gingivitis, can’t be accessed with hand tools in a dog which is conscious. Secondly, scaling teeth with hand tools always leaves deep grooves in the enamel. Last, and most important, scaling of teeth always releases bacteria into the bloodstream through the gums. If your dog is not properly already on antibiotics designed for gingivitis, he could end up with an acute case of endocarditis. The only method to clean your dog’s teeth is at the vet under light anaesthesia.
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