Stray dogs and corruption

Police dogs search for drugs, guns, and explosives; can stray dogs help societies detect corruption?

Stray dogs, or “the street dogs”, look like domestic dogs, but their behavior starts changing over time. Generally, dogs are known for liking human companionship, when a dog is separated from his owner, he will cheerfully respond to whoever approaches him hoping that this person will take him back to his human friend.

Overall, street dogs tend to be suspicious and sometimes frightened of human beings. These dogs probably have had unpleasant experiences with people, which is why in several cases; the presence of humans is something they identify as a possible threat.

Life of a stray.

When several street dogs are near one another, they form a pack with a chain of command (pyramid) that is similar to the wolves. Surprisingly, it is the most intelligent dog that becomes the pack leader, and not the one that is the most aggressive.

The city`s stray dogs become scavengers for food; they will eat whatever they can find, including garbage, waste, or even the flesh of dead animals. They will not be necessarily hunting, since as a species, they have been depending on man for a long time. Even if in some cases, their instinct kicks in, and they have hunted and killed prey, they do not necessarily know what to do with it. In the country, since human-supplied food sources are rare, stray dogs might start hunting as a pack, attacking different types and sizes of livestock including sheep, goats, and chickens.

In societies where violations against weaker communities are already being practiced, these dogs are in a vulnerable position.

Strays around the world.

Worldwide, the latest statistics indicate that the number of stray dogs varies from 200 million to 500 million, according to the World Health Organization.

There are about 100 million abandoned animals in Europe and most of them are located in states that are members of the Union, the European Union estimated (eg Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain). Romania for instance has more than 2 million stray dogs.

According to the European Society of Dog and Animal Welfare: “In EU Member States with high numbers of abandoned and homeless dogs and cats, it becomes conflicts between the residents and the stray animals and also between people and governments — this often leads to hate campaigns to the animals”.

In Asia, China, for instance, millions of stray dogs and cats live on China’s streets. Some strays are abandoned pets that were left to feed for themselves after being dumped. Many were born on the streets. Different parts of China are known for consuming cat and dog meat, a behavior that had been faced with global condemnation. Yearly, over 10 million dogs are slaughtered for their meat in China.

stray dogs vs. no stray dogs.

India`s case:

India’s stray dog population has grown over the years and is estimated to be between 35–40 million. Packs of street dogs are unavoidable, mostly friendly, but sometimes feral. Many of the citizens’ normal night walks end up being chased by a dog pack. Each year, more than 20,000 cases of rabies deaths are reported in India. While deaths from rabies worldwide exceeded 59,000 cases, and 40% of them were under the age of 15. In India, it is believed that almost all rabies cases were caused by dog bites.

Between 1994 to 2015, according to reports, nearly 1.3 million people were bitten by dogs in the city of Mumbai.

Dogs have a natural tendency to chase vehicles and people for predatory, playful, or territorial reasons. They mainly attack people due to fear, territoriality, litter defense, and sexual aggression. Besides, these dogs are homeless, starving, and maybe suffering from diseases; lots of disasters can occur as a result, and some encounters between humans and dogs can be life-threatening for both.

Corruption in India:

Trace International published a report discussing bribery in India. Their findings include that: 91% of the bribes were demanded by officials in the government. 77% of the bribes demanded were for avoiding harm and not for gaining any type of advantage. 51% of the bribes were demanded small regular services such as getting a telephone connection.

Holland`s case:

In Holland, owning a dog used to represent one’s social status. Owning a dog meant belonging to the upper-class; they used their dogs for sports. In poorer areas, people used to own mongrels or mutts; which are dogs of no definable type or breed and were used as work dogs.

Today, the country managed to become the first country in the world with no stray dogs, and not by using euthanasia as many would think. So how did the Netherlands achieve that?

Through an extensive nationwide and government-funded sterilization program called the CNVR program (Collect, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Return). This sort of treatment is believed by the World Animal Protection Agency to be the most effective when controlling the population of stray dogs.

The government also encouraged people to adopt homeless dogs from shelters by increasing taxes for dogs that are bought from stores.

Also, the country set up an animal police force to monitor crimes committed against animals, and also rescue animals in need.

the leader of the Party for the Animals, Marianne Thieme, thinks that the way society treats animals correlates with how they treat their citizens. “there is a direct link between violence against animals and violence against humans.” she stated.

Corruption in Holland:

The Netherlands is considered one of the least corrupt countries in the world. In 2020, and for the third year in a row the country maintained its eighth place in the latest Transparent International index.

A state that does not care about stray dogs does not care about the citizens. It is no surprise that countries with higher populations of stray dogs recorded higher corruption rates. Corruption is a threat to both humans and animals alike. The next time you see a group of stray dogs roaming around your neighborhood, ask yourself this question, is there someone somewhere in the city hall behind his desk doing nothing? If so, does that mean that this person is corrupt? Is the whole government corrupt? How many stray dogs can you see?

“He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” — Immanuel Kant.