Hi all,
pls visit our website - www.dogadoption.in and help us spread the word more and more...
regards
Friday, February 6, 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
ADOPTION SITE
Hi
I have begun an adoption site along with a friend of mine.
Do send in your inputs.
Regards
Malleka
www.dogadoption.in
I have begun an adoption site along with a friend of mine.
Do send in your inputs.
Regards
Malleka
www.dogadoption.in
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Friday, November 30, 2007
IT'S A FIGHT FOR THE FEMALES...
Adopting a female dog
by RAJASHREE KHALAP (WSD)
I was quite surprised to hear from Malleka recently about the gender bias in the dog world. That's because for the past few years we have not had this particular problem in our adoption programme in Mumbai. At WSD last month four females got very good homes (two adults and two pups). In fact one of the people had specifically asked for a female pup and was very pleased with our little black Chintoo. The other owners were open to adopting either a male or a female. Nine other females also got very good homes in the recent past and their owners are very happy with them.
The main reason for the reluctance to take females is of course the mess and nuisance of the dog coming on heat. There is also a perception that females do not make good watchdogs.
The first problem can easily be prevented. The second is a myth.
Here are the actual facts about adopting females:
• The mess and nuisance of the heat can be completely prevented by spaying. "Spay" is another word for ovariohysterectomy (surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus). It is performed under general anaesthesia and should only be carried out by a qualified and experienced veterinary surgeon. in any good veterinary clinic or NGO, high levels of hygiene are maintained for surgery and for post-operative care. At WSD we have completed over 31,000 sterilizations, of which at least 60% were spays. When correct procedures are followed and the dog is healthy, it is a low risk operation. In fact there is a lot of risk in NOT spaying a female dog: unspayed females frequently get a uterine disease called pyometra, which can be fatal.
• Unwanted litters are of course also prevented by spaying.
• Spaying does not reduce territorial instinct or change the dog's temperament in any way.
• There is a common belief that dogs of both sexes become overweight and sluggish if neutered. If dogs are neutered between the age of 1 and 2 years, and are not overfed, they will not become fat or sluggish. Check out my Lalee on the home page (and every other page!) of the WSD website, http://www.wsdindia.org/ She had been spayed a couple of years before these photos were taken. Even today at the age of 6 and a half, she doesn't look too different and she certainly isn't sluggish.
• There is NO difference between a male and female dog when it comes to intelligence, courage, loyalty and ability to guard the house. In my immediate family we have mostly kept females, and I secretly suspect that they are smarter than males! I'm mentioning just a few excellent female watchdogs – Elsa, our Pariah-mix dog when I was a child, my mother's Poppy who actually prevented a theft, our building dog Rani, Dolly, a dog living in the compound of Corinthian building (Mumbai) – she cornered a thief against the building wall and didn't allow him to move or run away! The following members of the Indian Pariah Dog Club - Kalpana Talpade's Sweetie, Daisy Sidhwa's Bini, Rekha Sabnis's Masti, my Lalee - are all superb watchdogs, and all of them are more alert and suspicious of strangers than the male dogs in the house.
The brave and loyal character of female dogs was obviously well-known even in the long-ago days of vedic Hinduism. The dog belonging to the God Indra was not a male but a female! Her name was Sarama. A famous story in the Rig Veda relates how she tracked and helped the gods recover a herd of stolen cattle.
So now we're in the 21st century, can we forget about the gender bias please!
Rajashree Khalap
Manager-Projects, The Welfare of Stray Dogs
Manager, WSD Indian Pariah Dog Club
http://indianpariahdog.blogspot.com/
by RAJASHREE KHALAP (WSD)
I was quite surprised to hear from Malleka recently about the gender bias in the dog world. That's because for the past few years we have not had this particular problem in our adoption programme in Mumbai. At WSD last month four females got very good homes (two adults and two pups). In fact one of the people had specifically asked for a female pup and was very pleased with our little black Chintoo. The other owners were open to adopting either a male or a female. Nine other females also got very good homes in the recent past and their owners are very happy with them.
The main reason for the reluctance to take females is of course the mess and nuisance of the dog coming on heat. There is also a perception that females do not make good watchdogs.
The first problem can easily be prevented. The second is a myth.
Here are the actual facts about adopting females:
• The mess and nuisance of the heat can be completely prevented by spaying. "Spay" is another word for ovariohysterectomy (surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus). It is performed under general anaesthesia and should only be carried out by a qualified and experienced veterinary surgeon. in any good veterinary clinic or NGO, high levels of hygiene are maintained for surgery and for post-operative care. At WSD we have completed over 31,000 sterilizations, of which at least 60% were spays. When correct procedures are followed and the dog is healthy, it is a low risk operation. In fact there is a lot of risk in NOT spaying a female dog: unspayed females frequently get a uterine disease called pyometra, which can be fatal.
• Unwanted litters are of course also prevented by spaying.
• Spaying does not reduce territorial instinct or change the dog's temperament in any way.
• There is a common belief that dogs of both sexes become overweight and sluggish if neutered. If dogs are neutered between the age of 1 and 2 years, and are not overfed, they will not become fat or sluggish. Check out my Lalee on the home page (and every other page!) of the WSD website, http://www.wsdindia.org/ She had been spayed a couple of years before these photos were taken. Even today at the age of 6 and a half, she doesn't look too different and she certainly isn't sluggish.
• There is NO difference between a male and female dog when it comes to intelligence, courage, loyalty and ability to guard the house. In my immediate family we have mostly kept females, and I secretly suspect that they are smarter than males! I'm mentioning just a few excellent female watchdogs – Elsa, our Pariah-mix dog when I was a child, my mother's Poppy who actually prevented a theft, our building dog Rani, Dolly, a dog living in the compound of Corinthian building (Mumbai) – she cornered a thief against the building wall and didn't allow him to move or run away! The following members of the Indian Pariah Dog Club - Kalpana Talpade's Sweetie, Daisy Sidhwa's Bini, Rekha Sabnis's Masti, my Lalee - are all superb watchdogs, and all of them are more alert and suspicious of strangers than the male dogs in the house.
The brave and loyal character of female dogs was obviously well-known even in the long-ago days of vedic Hinduism. The dog belonging to the God Indra was not a male but a female! Her name was Sarama. A famous story in the Rig Veda relates how she tracked and helped the gods recover a herd of stolen cattle.
So now we're in the 21st century, can we forget about the gender bias please!
Rajashree Khalap
Manager-Projects, The Welfare of Stray Dogs
Manager, WSD Indian Pariah Dog Club
http://indianpariahdog.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Breedism: A form of non-human racism. by Kim
The other day we walked into a pet shop, a reputed pet shop at Khan Market, to buy food and accessories for our extremely adorable new puppies. We walked up to the counter.
“Good afternoon sir, good afternoon madam.”
“Good afternoon. Uhh… we are looking for some food, collars, food tray and all the other stuff, you know, for our new puppies.”
“Of course we have all the things you require, Sir. What breed is your dog?”
“Indian.”
I noticed the immediate raised eye-brow. His smile disappeared for a fraction of a second (probably less than 1/100 of a second, if I was allowed to exaggerate), but it felt like eternity to me (no exaggeration this time). He of course immediately reverted to his calm and cheerful self. His eyes and smile lied, but that brief moment of facial expression betrayed everything.
That’s the problem here in India. You say “Indian breed”, and the most common reaction one gets here is of utter disgust. Because Indian breeds are always held synonymous with stray dogs. I don’t blame them, after all, that’s the breed stray dogs here in India supposedly belong to.
I really used to hate those so called "dog lovers" who put on a theatrical “awwww chhoo chweet” expression whenever they see a well groomed expensive pedigree, but immediately show a disgusting “ewwww” at a malnourished street dog. I wondered how such people could call themselves “DOG lovers” and I used to think they were better off carrying the snooty tag “High breed Pedigree Lovers” rather than “dog lovers”.
But when you really think about it, I guess it all boils down to “one man’s Indian is another man’s Pedigree”. A self-acclaimed “food lover” (or “foodies” as the P3 calls them) need not necessarily love EVERY food, and are usually crazy about only those exotic dishes. Likewise, a so called “car lover” won’t even look twice at a rickety old ambassador, or how a “bike lover” is in love only with the imported ones.
But one fact remains clear: Indian breeds are called strays because of us. None of them ever wished to become strays out of their own volition; it is society that makes them strays. If only there are more people like Malleka Gupta, then we can truly rid India of all its strays.
“Good afternoon sir, good afternoon madam.”
“Good afternoon. Uhh… we are looking for some food, collars, food tray and all the other stuff, you know, for our new puppies.”
“Of course we have all the things you require, Sir. What breed is your dog?”
“Indian.”
I noticed the immediate raised eye-brow. His smile disappeared for a fraction of a second (probably less than 1/100 of a second, if I was allowed to exaggerate), but it felt like eternity to me (no exaggeration this time). He of course immediately reverted to his calm and cheerful self. His eyes and smile lied, but that brief moment of facial expression betrayed everything.
That’s the problem here in India. You say “Indian breed”, and the most common reaction one gets here is of utter disgust. Because Indian breeds are always held synonymous with stray dogs. I don’t blame them, after all, that’s the breed stray dogs here in India supposedly belong to.
I really used to hate those so called "dog lovers" who put on a theatrical “awwww chhoo chweet” expression whenever they see a well groomed expensive pedigree, but immediately show a disgusting “ewwww” at a malnourished street dog. I wondered how such people could call themselves “DOG lovers” and I used to think they were better off carrying the snooty tag “High breed Pedigree Lovers” rather than “dog lovers”.
But when you really think about it, I guess it all boils down to “one man’s Indian is another man’s Pedigree”. A self-acclaimed “food lover” (or “foodies” as the P3 calls them) need not necessarily love EVERY food, and are usually crazy about only those exotic dishes. Likewise, a so called “car lover” won’t even look twice at a rickety old ambassador, or how a “bike lover” is in love only with the imported ones.
But one fact remains clear: Indian breeds are called strays because of us. None of them ever wished to become strays out of their own volition; it is society that makes them strays. If only there are more people like Malleka Gupta, then we can truly rid India of all its strays.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Adopt Indian/Desi/Stray Dogs
Are you a proud Indian???
Then why is it that you do not seem to give the same respect to everything thats Indian?
For beginners lets take up the issue of the Indian/Desi/Stray dogs.
Have you ever thought - why is it that they are called Strays.. Simply because they have been abandoned by us . We do not wish to take responsibility of taking care of whats ours and land up leaving them on the streets. The resultant being -they left to fend for themselves.
How many times have you crossed a diseased/wounded/hurt/beaten/bitten dog on the street and have exclaimed -"yuck!! how filthy". what if after that remark you'd stopped and called a genuine animal lover who could help that animal become a healthy one again?
I have an Indian/Desi breed, I picked off the street and he is the most handsome/intelligent/ loving pet I have seen. Even people with pedigree as pets exclaim on seeing him - " he is sooooo cute, what an intelligent dog". This dog might have been as dirty, diseased and Yucky as any other on the street if not taken in by us. Thats what makes all the difference. Giving them a home and a normal loving environment is all that is needed. Even a Pedigree if left on a road will look as undesirable as the so-called strays. Come to think of it once they look like the stray Indian they would also be stray pedigrees.
Just give it a thought.
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