Sunday, February 19, 2012

Why do dogs chase passing vehicles?

Dogs are territorial animals and they see the vehicle as an intruder on their territory. By chasing moving bikes, they are just trying to show who the boss in its territory is. 
"Apni gali mein Kutta bhi Sher!" goes a popular saying in Hindi, which means that "A dog thinks that it is the king (lion) in its territory".
·         They feel satisfaction when they chased the vehicle away because that gives them the impression that the vehicle is scared and trying to “run away”. It's part of their chase and kill instinct. 
·          
Also, it gives them something to do. They usually have fun doing it and no one has ever trained them not to. 

What does the law say?

• It is against the law to give an animal any injurious  substance or to put out poisoned food.

• It  is  illegal  to  kill homeless animals. Previously, these animals (mainly dogs) would be killed cruelly by electrocution, starvation and burying alive. After 1992, it became illegal for municipalities to kill stray dogs. The High Courts of have introduced  a  sensible  sterilization  program  instead. 

• It is illegal to cause injury to any  animal  with  a  monetary value greater than Rs 10. The Code also makes it illegal for cars to purposefully  injure  or kill dogs.

• Stray animals may not be used for research. It is  illegal  for  any medical, educational or commercial research institute to pick up stray animals from the street for this purpose.
Stray dogs may be put down only if they have rabies, if they are terminally ill or if they are fatally injured.

*Sources: 

www.strawindia.org/STRAWPAGES/Laws-btm.htm