Bhubaneswar badly needs a Dog Park

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

The Dog Shows conducted by Orissa Kennel Club have generated a remarkable interest amongst the general public in knowing the dog and understanding how blissful is educating the dog with obedience training and how gainful is exploring the dog’s immense potentiality in having a tension-free environment.

This year, on December 8 and 9, the Orissa Kennel Club (OKC) presented 242 members of different breeds in its 43rd and 44th Championship Shows in a competition camp erected for the specific purpose on the veterinary ground of Orissa Veterinary College in the campus of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology.

Out of them, 23 dogs and bitches participated in ‘Obedience Training Test’. They included Beagle, Cocker Spaniel, Doberman, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Lhasa Apso, and Pug.

Show Championship was conducted group-wise leading to selection of the best exhibit. In the Toy Group, there were Chihuahua (long coat), Chihuahua (smooth coat) Chinese Crested Dog, Miniature Pinscher, Pekingese, Pomeranian, Poodle (Toy), and Pug. Majority of participants in this group was Pug numbering 27.

Even as Fox Terrior-Smooth Hair represented the Terrior Group, the Utility Group had three breeds: Akita, Lhasa Apso and Poodle (Standard).

In the Hound Group,there were six breeds: Afgan Hound, Beagle, Dachshund Muiniature (smooth haired), Dachshund Standard (smooth haired), Grey Hound, and Whippet. Beagle being 20 in numbers constituted the majority of this group.

Five breeds comprised the Gundog group. They were Cocker Spaniel (American), Cocker Spaniel (English), Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, and Pointer, Labrador Retriever, with a strength of 36 contestants, formed the majority of this group.

The Working Group comprised Alaskan Malamute, Boxer, Bull Mastiff, Doberman Pinscher, Dogue De Bordeaux, French Mastiff, Great Dane, Neapolitan Mastiff, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Siberian Husky, and Tibetan Mastiff. Doberman Pincher with 20 numbers formed the majority of this group.

The German Shepherd Dogs formed the Pastoral Group. They were 36 in numbers.

The above statistics show that German Shepherd and Labrador Retriever are the two most popular amongst all the breeds that the dog lovers watched in the two-days long shows.

There was tremendous enthusiasm amongst Bhubaneswar residents to watch the dog exhibits. Senior citizens to School going kids were all seen enjoying the shows. Here below is a picture of a Prep student of Delhi Public School-Kalinga, Ms. Adwiteeya Mohapatra (five) using an ipod to capture Rottweilers in the ring.

prep student of DPS using ipod to capture Rottweiler

We have in our earlier report, linked supra, given the name of the winners amongst which was a Rottweiler that was the best in Obedience Trials.

However, here in this write-up, we want to urge upon the Government to wake up to the needs of the canine world of Bhubaneswar.

The following pictures would show how the dogs were tortured under the scorching sun, winter in Bhubaneswar having gone away with a mild presence for a couple of days.

st. bernardsone

The OKC had done whatever best it could have done to provide cloth-enclosures for the dogs to take rest. But the Rings were open and the rays of the Sun were merciless.

Had there been natural foliage around and above the rings, the participant dogs would not have suffered so much hitting heat while exhibiting their class and calibers.
The Government must see into this.

Relevance of trained dogs to Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, the capital City of Orissa, is now known as a citadel of criminals.

Earlier a single Deputy Superintendent of Police was keeping Bhubaneswar clean of crime. But now, not only it has a Commissioner of Police, but also the Director General of Police of the State is having his daily camp office in Bhubaneswar.

The severity of crime has become so monstrous that the Police Control Room is having 1500 numbers of SOS calls per day in the average. Attack on senior citizens, House-braking, and all possible heinous crimes are being perpetrated in Bhubaneswar. But the police are unable to curb crime by punishing the criminals.

Shortage of manpower is the main reason of Police failure, they say. Even, despite directions in the Act and various court orders, the Police Stations are not registering FIR in most of the cases, as that would multiply their responsibility, which they cannot discharge due to shortage of hands. So, Police service is inadequate and undependable.

In such a situation, how can the citizens be sure of safety?

The answer lies in recruitment of more and more trained dogs by households in Bhubaneswar.

With a trained dog on duty, there is no reason of worry over security. The people should be educated in dog keeping and should be encouraged to pet dogs, suitable to their homes, situations and purse; as there is no better way than this to stay safe in the city of crimes.

However, as we see now, many families are keeping dogs without imparting them any ‘canine good citizen’ training. That defeats the very purpose of keeping dogs. Sans canine education, even high pedigree dogs go haywire and become menacing sometimes to the extent of creating disillusionment for dogs in the first generation dog owners.

Very recently a highly esteemed advocate friend of mine sighed in relief, as a man ventured to accept his untrained Rottweiler, which, unable to handle, he was eager to dispose off.

It was just a sample of how lack of good canine-citizen education is making monsters of adorable pups in Bhubaneswar and dissuading neighbors from adopting dogs for themselves.

Fault lies not with the dogs; but with the owners who fail to give them the training in good manners.

Dog Shows are very essential for the types of my advocate friend in getting the clue from the exhibits on how to have the most charming associates in the canine friends.

Importance of dog

Over and above the dog’s monumental contributions to man’s sense of security, day by day, more and more increasingly, medical community is discovering the tremendous role the dogs are playing in the area of health care. As dreaded diseases like cancer are being detected by properly trained Entomology Scent Detecting Dogs, I saw that specially trained ‘Bedbug-sniffing Dogs’ are being used in USA to get rid of the “epidemic” of bugs sweeping households, schools, offices, movie theaters and other places. Locating and eradicating the pest problem, is a major area, where the trained dog is playing a great role.

The Bhubaneswar citizens are entitled to all these benefits that their canine friends can give them.

For this, needed is a permanent land for the OKC. If the government offers the OKC an area of 2 to 5 Acres of land, anywhere in the heart of the City for the exclusive purpose, the OKC can develop a permanent green foliage with adequate plantation and training tracks where dog owners can have their pets properly exercised and educated in social and behavioral sphere besides training in property guarding, pest sniffing and in all sorts of utility matter. Even in this exclusive park, medical counseling for dogs as well as expert guidance to dog owners may be made available every day. In this specific place, under the canopy of green foliage, Dog Shows would have their permanent location and dog owners a permanent meeting place for socialization of their pets and for mutual exchange of their experiences in dog keeping and training.

I urge upon the government to please pay due attention to this urgent necessity of a permanent Dog Park in Bhubaneswar.

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