An unfortunate incident took place in a housing society in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. A pet dog bit a child in a lift in the presence of its owner. The dog was wearing a leash which was held by the owner but it was big enough for the dog to bite the boy on his leg. But what was worse was the apathy and insensitivity of the woman owner. She had no kind words to say to the boy nor had the courtesy to stop the lift and take the boy to his parents.
May be the lady was scared of the repercussions . But her response to the incident was not right. She should have apologized and if her dog was vaccinated then she should have told the parent that the dog is vaccinated and is not rabid.. Rather when confronted by the child's father the lady was in a denial mode. Soon after she came out of the lift she took the dog in the basement to poop. For the entire report and the videos kindly go on the link below:
What happened in the lift was an accident. Such incidents rarely happen. Dog owners world over take their dogs in lifts with other people in it but seldom such incidents take place.
This incident has become the headline of every news channel in India. The dog, it's breed and its owner are being condemned. Some channels are still running the news as this means more TRP for their channel. One of the most watched television channels in India have come out with the following caption "Terror of dogs, Dog kept tearing a person in a lift and the owner kept watching the entertainment in silence" (Pic in the post).
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Giving honest news to the public is the duty of every journalist but this kind of news with such irresponsible caption is not correct. Do these media houses even know what kind of an impact their news might have on the common man of India that too in a country where almost daily a dog is beaten to death, poisoned and killed. Where majority of its population are afraid of dogs and consider it rabid.
Another news channel has already started a debate on this issue. Already declared the breed pit bull unsafe.
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The sad part is that many reporters who are covering this news do not seem to have interacted themselves with dogs. If they had then they would know how a stray dog cannot be clubbed with a pet dog. And how a pet dog no matter what the breed is most loyal to his human family members.. Dogs cannot be a threat to young children and elderly if we know how to interact with them. They are called the man's best friend all round the globe except in India.
Human cruelty on dogs is hardly reported by these channels. Very few media houses report such incidents. May be because the majority who run these houses themselves have never had the good fortune of interacting with the man's best friend or may be such news won't give them TRPs.
Anyhow just three days have passed and the pet dogs and their owners have already started feeling the after effects.
A reporter ( +91 98997 41098 ) shared a message on whatspp group.
"Pet owners are being harrased so our society in greater noida for lift usage etc please share legal docs on the same to help"
In another incident again in a housing society in greater noida a pet dog was beaten by few men for walking in the lobby.
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Pet dogs are more likely to bite than stray dogs That is because they are confined to chains and are not exposed to people except their owners. On the other hand stray dogs are more social because they are always surrounded by people and hence are less likely to bite. Did the reporters tell this on their news channel. Did they tell people to get the dogs in and around their colony vaccinated because that is the only way to make India canine rabies free. Did they tell that dog is considered man's best friend and what happened was just an accident and the pet owners should be more careful while taking their dogs put for a walk. Instead they have started a war against dogs and their owners.
Why aren't they telling people of India not to be afraid of dogs as they do not bite witnout provocation and what happened in the lift was an accident. What happened was unfortunate and what is actually condemnable is the owners reaction.
Also a question comes to the mind that why was the dog taken by the owners to the basement for a walk?
Don't dogs need fresh air and green grass?
Wouldn't be surprised if the owner of the dog tells us that the society where this happened is already anti dogs and do not allow the owners to take their dogs in the parks. So they take their dogs in the basement.
if that is not the case then the owner is at fault for not taking the dog out in fresh air for his walk. Be it a pet dog or a stray dog both need affection, food, water and fresh air.
Wish media houses of India could also run news items of human cruelty on dogs and on the ABC program which is in existence in India since 2001 but never been implemented in the right manner. Primarly due to lack of political will.
A video has gone viral where in an ABC unit in Chandigargh a sweeper is seen pouring water on the dogs in the cage. He is doing it for his amusement or for stopping the dogs from barking only he knows but what he is doing is disgusting and inhuman. Why torture a voiceless and inflict pain on him?.
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Well there are few good and responsible television channels but currently majority of the channels are only spitting venom against dogs. They seem to be ignorant of the effects their program will have on the Indian dogs.
1 zee news television channel
Twitter: @ZeeNews
2 Aaj tak news channel
Twitter: @aajtak