Thinking about Street Dogs

July 23, 2022

Many years ago, I received a request to create a poster of Indian Street Dogs ("Streeties") by a Seattle-based rescue group who would take these dogs off the streets in India and rehome them in the USA. At the time I was so excited to draw these dogs that I didn't question the ethics of this whole operation. I assumed that the streeties were "happy" with their new American families, that this type of rescue was always a good thing.

[ Aditi Joshi's streeties in Mumbai were my models for these drawings. A few of these doggos also appear in my next book]

Now when I think of streeties being uprooted from their local/social environments, and taken away from the people who feed them and fight for them, away to a totally different (White Saviorist) culture that places more value on "obedience" and "friendliness" than freedom for the dog to choose and negotiate their relationships, this feels sad and wrong.

I highly recommend this extremely enlightening interview with Sindhoor Pangal
on Michael Shikashio's "The Bitey End of The Dog" podcast series.

 

 

UPDATE: Also see the sub-chapter on Free-Ranging Dogs in my new book Dogs of the World.