Doggone it! We owe Lisa a big 'thank you’

How can we forget that our city, soon to be a grand old 600 years old, was built in a place where a timid dog let itself be chased by some rabbits?

That was what made Ahmed Shah decide to build his fort here and create Ahmedabad where he prospered.

Who doesn't know of Yudhishthira's refusal to enter heaven without the faithful dog that had followed him through perilous paths where all his brothers and wife had fallen? And the dog was none other than Dharma.

I have to admit, I am a serious dog lover. Anyone who has visited Darpana, our academy, or Natarani, our theatre, will have seen or heard our dogs.

I have 8, most of them, like me, mixed breeds (Don't forget that I am part Gujarati, Tamil and Malyalee).

And in fact, I love all animals. I can't stand the cruelty with which we treat our cows by letting them loose on the streets and having their feet run over by cars, while at the same time talking of cows as mothers.

(Of course, stories in the news of how we now treat our parents by dumping them in homes after we have secured the rights to the property in our names, should make us understand that calling anything 'mother' is just a convenience).

So why am I going on about animals and dogs? Well, because of the space they have taken in the papers recently. 

Back from a trip I was confronted with news that some Canadian dog lover working for animal rights had been sued by AMC for Rs10 crore for defaming them.

That she had stormed into their office and taken away the tongs used to catch dogs. That she was out to vilify "us". Then I read her rebuttals. Something didn't seem true so I set about finding out the truth.

India has a law that dogs are to be sterilised and given anti rabies shots and not treated cruelly. AMC treats them cruelly and worse (why are the Jains not protesting at such awful cruelty? And the dog lovers who proudly show their dogs at dog shows?).

If you have an internet connection, please stop reading and see www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXdqO8Dd6kU.

AMC admits to catching 150 dogs this way everyday. And then half dead, they let the animals off at Pirana to die.

By using these tongs AMC has broken Indian law and should be prosecuted for cruelty and lawlessness. A government body breaking a law 150 times a day, every day! Think what would happen to us if we broke traffic rules 150 times a day!

Did Lisa Warden break into the AMC office and seize the tongs? Is it possible for a single woman accompanied by a woman interpreter, to do this?

Cell phone records show that there were conversations before this between her and AMC officials and that she was invited to come and remove the tongs and allowed to do so.

Not only that, but there is a letter given to her by Ganji Choudhry of CNCD (Cattle Nuisance Control Department) after Lisa had removed the tongs and put them in her car promising never to use the illegal tongs again.

But the tong story continued in spite of the assurance to follow the law. And Lisa was even blamed for two or three random dog bites because "she has taken away our tongs and we could not catch the dogs".

Over the next few days the papers were full of smiling AMC officials welcoming the Chairman of Animal Welfare Board of India (who, incidentally, Lisa has been trying to get to Ahmedabad for months) and announcements of setting up a joint agency for more humane treatment.