Sir,

A reader’s voice titled “What is true love for our stray dogs?” published in Star of Mysore dated Dec.7 intrigued me deeply. It was mentioned that a naturalist was in favour of keeping stray dogs in shelters, as this would make vaccinating and neutering the dogs easier.

This opinion not only intrigued me but also made me question how the ‘naturalist’ is ignorant of the fact that the natural habitat of dogs is not in shelters or kennels but in the same environment that we humans roam freely.

Furthermore, shelters not only cause depression, cross-infection and conflicts among dogs, they also become noisy, unhygienic and pathetic for dogs to survive.

Shelters are the only prisons where every captive is innocent.

I once visited Mumbai’s infamous Nariman Point. I noticed that every stray dog along that stretch had a badge on its collar with its name and the contact number of its guardian.

If a densely populated metropolitan city like Mumbai can implement this programme, a city like Namma Mysuru can certainly make an honest attempt at it, can’t it?!

Volunteers, aka animal lovers, can come forward to take responsibility (vaccinating, deworming, neutering, etc.) of as many stray dogs as possible. Any complaints or nuisance caused by the dog(s) shall also be addressed by the volunteer. This way, animal lovers become the dogs’ guardian angels.

I sincerely hope that the government takes practical steps to maintain the human-animal balance in a way that we all can coexist with empathy and compassion.

– Supriya Rajgopal, A dog lover, Mysuru, 7.12.2025

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