How to help dogs this Diwali?
Posted by Abhishek Joshi in Ramblings on October 30, 2013
Festivities, so often, are a dreaded time for our furry friends. Diwali, synonymous with lights and crackers, takes a toll on countless cats and dogs, among other animals like human beings. From the pestilent fumes that get engulfed by the child labor employed in Sivakasi to the plight of heart patients, smoke and sound aren’t always cherished. The blitzkrieg, however, will go on despite monitoring agencies warning off unprecedented increase in levels of pollutants.
The ensuing noise and smell of napalm in air trembles the dogs, quite like many humans, I know. Many unfortunate homeless creatures get fatally injured or die in the name of celebrations.
A cracker free Diwali for dogs
The true essence of a festival is spreading love. With the same idea, here are some tips for having Diwali celebrations with a concern for the cats and canines, the canary and the cows.
- Pledge to say no to crackers. Ask others too.
- Ask the naysayers to at least burst crackers in a limited and a centralized location so that animals can be kept off it during the fireworks.
- Take your dog for a walk during the day before the fireworks begin.
- Lower the windows to cease the aftermath of cracker bursts. Turn up the volume on the television or radio to help shield the noise.
- Ensure to reprimand/report anyone teasing stray animals. (No tying crackers to tails or hurling a live fire on an innocent animal. Read: All animals are innocent.)
- Help any animals on the road into your garden or garage and put food and water for them.
- Put posters in your society/school/college/office notice board to be kind to stray animals.
- Keep a list of local NGO contacts/municipal boards/ vet(s) in case you find an injured animal in your locality or on road. Keep a first-aid kit ready with you too.
- The loose hanging electricity cords used for decoration may tempt the dog as playthings and they run a risk of getting entangled or electrocuted. Keep them off reach from your pets.
- Lamps and candles should be kept out of a pet’s reach to avoid accidental fire or burns.
This Diwali go Noise free!
Here’s wishing everyone a happy Diwali!
The wait
Posted by Abhishek Joshi in Ramblings on October 17, 2013
And in another land
there may be
by the shore or at the sea
or in the valley of the bees
another loneliness
quite like me.
So I wait
as the world fades
and it’s only the page
which listens to me.
The taste of memory
Posted by Abhishek Joshi in Ramblings on October 14, 2013
“I don’t know what it is about food your mother makes for you – but it carries a certain taste of memory.”
― Mitch Albom
A dog can smell a good person a mile away!
Posted by Abhishek Joshi in Paw Prints on September 30, 2013
Nothing escapes the Nose:) ~ Photograph by Krutika Joshi for ‘Dog with Blog’.
Romania, No country for dogs
Posted by Abhishek Joshi in Grrrr..... on September 10, 2013
Our Romanian friend Flavia Mindrut writes her heart out on the painful life (and death) of stray dogs in her country.
Following the tragic death of a 4 year old boy attacked by dogs in a park in Bucharest, the stray dogs’ problem in Romania has become again the first order of business and the main topic on every radio or television news. People’s anger has been skillfully directed against the stray dogs living on the streets of our cities, everybody wants them dead, gone, no matter how it’s done, or if this is the right way of solving the problem. The mass media is only offering once side of the story, and is portraying stray dogs as deadly animals that need to be put to death. The authorities need to be seen as doing something, taking quick action, satisfy the angry masses. As a consequence, it has been voted by the decision makers, that mass euthanasia will, once again clean the streets of Romania of stray dogs. By the same logic, humans should have exterminated all Germans because of Hitler or Afghanistan because of Osama bin Laden. Dog bites or dog related illnesses don’t feature in the top 50 causes of death. According to the WHO, Romania has one of the highest rates of road traffic deaths in Europe, but the President has not banned every vehicle from the roads.
Romanian stray dogs: Not the feral beast that media is projecting them to be.
Tens of thousands of dogs will be put to death because this is the only way our authorities know how to deal with this. It’s easier; it’s cheaper so it must be better? But then humans see numbers over emotions. Here are the facts: Bucharest in the period 2001-2007 has been spent almost 9 million to kill 144,000 dogs (62 Euros per head). Sterilization instead only costs 20-25 Euros per dog.
No country for me?
Failing to assume the blame for creating the situation in the first place, by abandoning pups on the streets, not caring they might die of thirst and hunger, or grow up into aggressive animals, allowing them to multiply year after year, we, humans, are now condemning them to death. It is not only irrational and ineffective, it is brutal, inhumane and will impact us greatly as a nation, and on the way we are seen across the borders. The acts of violence against the dogs of the streets have already started. Euthanasia is code for being beaten to death, poisoned, injected will illegal substances, anything that would make the process cheaper and quicker. The Romanian authorities might not care of what we, the Romanian people think, but they might care of what animal lovers from all over the world do.
Adopt from a shelter, don’t buy pets
Instead of bombing Syria, Obama should get hold of Romanian ministers for they have embezzled millions of Euros directed towards animal welfare by EU.
If only dogs could vote, the Mayor would have though different. Until then, Romania still has her Dracula(s).
Dog with Blog ― Suggest a caption
Posted by Abhishek Joshi in Ramblings on September 8, 2013
~Image courtesy Swati Dutt
And sometimes
words are but an aberration,
a divulge for all
that the pixels stole away.
Dog with the blog! 
