Every parent knows the sharp instinct to protect. When a dog barked too close to her daughter on her way to the bus stop, Neha’s protective instinct kicked in. “What if he bites? What if she gets rabies?” That fear lives deep in many of us.

How Misinformation Fuels Panic

But what if much of this fear is based on misinformed headlines and half-truths? As a result of an unrelenting media campaign against street dogs using exaggerated bite figures and stock photos of snarling animals.

Supreme Court Orders Shelter Confinement for Dogs

India is currently gripped by a wave of concern. Tragically the Supreme Court too has fallen prey to fear, rather than relying on facts. Taking suo moto cognisance of a case of meningitis falsely broadcast as rabies, it has passed disastrous directions for all dogs to be incarcerated in shelters. It has disregarded the on ground reality, the data, all previous experience as well as its own past orders.

To understand the real picture, we need to step back—and hear from those who work on the ground to quietly protect both humans and animals.

Take the example of Meenakshi, an employee in animal welfare NGO Janm in Gurgaon. Meenakshi has spent the last four years sterilising and vaccinating dogs........

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