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Dogs are the best. They’re beings comprised of pure love and loyalty. The moment you set your eyes on them, you can actually hear your heart melting. And, if given the chance, dog lovers can go about their life not interacting with a single human being (because, why would they?) and fill up their home with dogs.
However, if you’re living in Bengaluru and you’re a dog lover, you won’t be able to do so. Why? Because Bengaluru’s civic body just won’t let you.
In an attempt to monitor and restrict dog fouling, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) has come up with a scheme to restrict the number of pets one can own. Bengaluru Mayor, Sampath Raj elaborated on the matter saying,
“NEW PET LICENSING SCHEME FROM BBMP HAS MANDATED THAT ONLY ONE APPROVED DOG CAN BE REARED IN A FLAT WHILE AN INDEPENDENT HOUSE CANNOT HAVE MORE THAN THREE DOGS.”
Evidently, this decision was met with a lot of backlash. And in addition to that, veteran dog lover, Sanjana Madappa voiced her opinion on why this rule should be abolished, in a heartfelt Facebook post citing an incident about her grandmother.
This is my grandmother. She is 86 years old, is an amputee and is fiercely independent. She lives alone and her biggest form of companionship, safety and protection are her dogs.
Last year in August, when the rains were lashing down on Bangalore heavily, my grandmother was one of the people who was stuck inside her house in chest deep water that was rising. She woke up at 1 am in her house to find water gushing on through every entrance and exit of the house. Why? Because the storm water drain nearby was so clogged by garbage and sewage that it overflowed and one portion of the drains wall broke allowing all that filthy water to flood into nearby residents homes.
Lucky for all of us, my uncle, her son, was in Bangalore visiting my grandmother. What woke them up? The dogs. The incessant whining and pacing of the dogs to wake them up is what alerted them that something was wrong. My uncle was able to carry my grandmother to the terrace before my grandmother, who does not have a leg, was completely submerged in the sewage water that was filling her house. And he went back for the dogs who were drowning by then and brought them up to safety. Why? Because you do not leave family behind.
The BBMP doesn’t want to fix our infrastructure, our sanitation lines, the potholes on the road, the garbage that piles up on the sides of the roads and storm water drains but they want to come into our homes and tell us who we can choose to be a part of our family. My grandmother was not going to leave her dogs behind in a life and death situation, you think your bye laws will make her leave her dogs in your hands? I’d like to see you try. #notwithoutmydog
Sanjana had made a beautiful maternity photo-shoot involving her dogs, which had eventually gone viral. And given her grandmother’s love for her fellow canines, we can clearly see where that trait comes from.
It’s understandable that the Bengaluru civic body wants to clean up the streets and keep their city clean. However, as evident from Sanjana’s post, dog littering isn’t the first thing that should come to their mind. And as the law has been put on hold for the time being due to the uproar, I hope the BBMP can come up with a far more logical solution, instead of hurting the bond between a dog and its owner.
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