Reproduced below is part of an article that appeared in 1965, in “The D’Xer Magazine” published in Cordova, South Carolina, USA:
“……….. Then there were all those dogs running around, and very often there was a big dogfight. All the people bring their food with them and since there is never any sort of an intermission during the day they just eat when they want to. Now, when there are a lot of loose dogs running around, some funny things happen at times. A dog will run up to some one’s dinner and grab a mouthful of food and away the dog scrams with some rocks being thrown at him, and a lot of yelling, etc., etc.”
The lone Chillip during the Paro Tsechu on 13th April, 1965 who submitted the above report to the magazine was none other than Mr. Gus Browning, a celebrated ham radio luminary from USA. He was in Bhutan in April of 1965, accompanied by his wife Peggy. To this day I am clueless as to how he managed to get into Bhutan - it is a mystery I tried to unravel - with no success.
From the above remarks of Mr. Gus Browning you can comprehend that the problem of “lot of loose dogs” was there as far back as 1965 - most likely even before. More than half a century since, the problem is even more acute, to the point that it has now reached a tipping point. But the issue continues to be ignored. I do not know what it will take for people to wake up and do something. But I do know that unless the stray dogs problem is sorted out, the tourism industry’s 5T aspirations will come to naught.
On Thimphu's most crowded thoroughfare, dogs outnumber vehicles and pedestrians
A stray dog attempts to bite a youthful passerby who is engrossed in music
At the core of this debilitating stray dogs problem is a select group of pseudo-religious people with a misguided, skin-deep sense of compassion. Their act of kindness is limited to paying lip service. Tell this lot to put their money where their mouth is – to feed the dogs, to house them, to care for them, to medicate them ---- and they will all feign ignorance and wail uncontrollably about financial incapacitation. If this lot were truly compassionate and have the dogs’ best interests at heart, the stray dogs would not be on the streets suffering scabies and pack brutality and all sorts of diseases related to neglect, hunger and old age. They would not have to resort to cannibalism.
But those public servants who haven’t performed their duties must also share the blame. This is nonchalance at its highest! Such irresponsibility cannot be condoned. It is for this reason that I had said in one of my earlier posts that if the 4th Pay Commission recommends a pay increase for the public servants on the grounds that they deserve it, the Commission should be charged in the Courts for treason to the Tsa Wa Sum. The only justifiable reason the public servants warrant a pay increase will be on humanitarian grounds; on grounds of inflation. These same public servants and their nonchalance have allowed another perennial problem to fester for decades, with devastating results - Goongtongs (now the term in vogue is "Yuetong"). The unseen face of this malice is that today Thimphu and other urban centers are filled with public servants who are forced into petty thievery - arising out of the economic pressure brought to bear on them, because of the ever increasing incidences of Goongtongs/Yuetongs. To be able to make ends meet, I have heard of civil servants claiming DSA for tours conducted on tabletops, pilfering office stationary such as photocopy paper and copier toner cartridges, and wheeling away pool vehicle tyres, to augment their income. It is a sad situation, but what is a man to do?
But for the tourism industry, the stray dogs problem has the potential to derail our march towards the top. The tourism stakeholders need to wake up to this very real threat and bring pressure to bear on the government, the religious institutions and the pressure groups - to address this issue and resolve it - before it causes irreparable damage. So far, despite worsening stray dogs menace, all that we have done is send out a travel advisory: visitors wishing to visit Bhutan are advised to bring along ear-plugs. Is this the best we can do?
A consistent question that a tourist wishing to visit Bhutan asks is this: Is the hotel where I am staying away from barking dogs? If the tour operators have answered yes, that would be a lie in most of the cases - because, once again, in typical Bhutanese fashion, very few of our hoteliers soundproof their windows, even while being fully aware of the nuisance of dog barks keeping guests awake half the night. They even ignore the fact that insulated windows help them reduce cost of heating.
All journeys must begin at a point of departure - for Bhutan’s tourism industry, the point of departure will be when the country is rid of stray dogs problem. The government must act immediately. However, even if we are to act now, the problem is unlikely to be solved within a year or two. Thus we need to look at a quick-fix solution. The answer to me seems to be: clad windows. To address the problem in the short term, I think the TCB should require all certified tourist lodgings to convert their windows to those with insulation - to provide soundproofing against dog barks. While this will not ensure physical safety, atleast the guests can be assured of a sound night’s sleep.
WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT DOG BITES?
I do not know what the law says - I don't even know if there is a law at all. But it is a fact that stray dogs have bitten people in the past - they continue to do so. Thus, nobody should be in any doubt that they represent a threat to human life and activity. Now, knowing that the stray dogs represent a clear and present danger to human life, it should be legally expedient on someone or some institution to ensure that they are prevented from entering public spaces. So, in the event of a claim being filed by a tourist for getting bitten by a stray dog in a public space, who must accept responsibility and make good the compensation sought?
1. The central government?
2. The local government?
3. The municipal authorities where the incidence took place?
4. The Tourism Council of Bhutan as the apex body that has the
overall responsibility to oversee comfort and safety aspects
of tourists visiting the country?
5. The tour operator for exposing the tourist to a setting that
they were fully aware was unsafe?
So far we have had it good - I have not heard of a claim being made by a tourist as a result of dog bite. But that is not to say that it will not happen. If and when it does, we need to be prepared as to on whom to fix the responsibility.
If there is currently no one agency on whom to fix responsibility to keep the strays off the streets, then we must designate an agency that should be made responsible. The Judiciary and/or the Parliament must legislate a law that will fix accountability on an agency, in the event of people suffering dog bites in public spaces.
This will be the first step towards solving the stray dogs problem in Bhutan.
No comments:
Post a Comment