sorry plight of dog with plastic mane - seen at Marina beach

Heard of ~ Cynophobia !  I am no great fan of dogs ~ do not suffer from ‘cynophobia’ though… Cynophobia is the abnormal fear of dogs.  It is classified as a specific phobia, under the subtype "animal phobias”.   Dogs are considered man’s best ally and among the most sought after pets ~ to some they bring endless joy and fun. For some they are too scary…. One shudders to think of walking alone in by-lanes especially in the night time, when suddenly a stray dog starts barking, making a few more join and perhaps giving a chase…..too scary…

The vast expanse of Bay of Bengal in Chennai ~ the famed Marina beach  offers intriguing things, to those morning and evening walkers. In the morning, as the Sun briskly rises, there are young, old, fast, slow, and varied type of  people indulging in chit-chatting, eating and drinking the various health drinks ! that are sold on pavements.  You can see people walking, walking fast, jogging, sprinting, skipping, doing physical exercises, yoga, laughing out loud – more – all law unto themselves – thinking and spreading that these are the passport to good health.  For some time there were shops selling ‘arugampul’ [Bermuda grass] juice and sprouted grains. Now ‘aloe vera’ [sothu kathazai] seems to be the fad…. People drink this juice, take pieces of the green and wipe their face, head, leg – expecting it to do wonders in brining shine, reducing weight and sending away diseases. You can observe a couple of elderly Jain gentlemen distributing bread and sometimes biscuits to old, disabled and vagabonds. A group singing bhajans; some doing breathing exercise, nearer Gandhi statue – a group from ‘laughing club – Chennai chapter – laughing themselves differently  ……………….

You can hear the sea, the sound of waves  and nearer – the  waves jumping and touching the shore and then submitting themselves to the shore but trying to come back to conquer again ! would be very interesting sight  – One  can see monstrous  ships anchored in the middle of sea, some fishing boats and Sun coming out as a red ball from the Sea – all great sights to behold.  To those given to enjoying Nature, the morning at Marina  provides innumerable things like morning birds, [thousands of pigeons come daily just opposite to the Model School / Vivekanandar Illam]  dogs – stray, and owned – local and foreign breeds of various sizes; posh cars; bi-cycles; vast expanse of sand and more…..

Dogs can be scary especially when they chase you in the late hours of the day…  there are many dogs loitering on roads – free ranging dogs that are not contained.  There have been reports of them attacking persons and children.  They are known to attack and cause harm to other animals as well.  There is always lurking fear that the victim needs to be administered ‘series of injections around the stomach’.  I understand that this is no longer the case and that vaccines such as Nervous tissue vaccine (NTV) are administered. 

I have been seeing this poor mongrel for the past couple of days… it is not the mane of a Lion ~ that is seen encircled on the dog…. It is that of an old used plastic pot……….the dog had put its head into the pot – perhaps trying to drink water and had its head struck…… some good Samaritan did the cutting job to the best of his ability – the dog can now breathe, see and run normally – not sure how much it constrains its eating and other activities.

Just as I sat to post this today………… saw that this photo has appeared in The Hindu – Tamil edition of date too.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

17^th Oct 2013.