Diversity in puppy character and how it impacts lives

The years after the COVID19 pandemic saw the rise of stray dog population in Bengaluru. The municipal body (BBMP) responsible for catching and spaying/neutering street dogs were not active during the lockdown. Their ABC (Animal Birth Control) program when implemented correctly was quite effective in keeping the populations in check.

This was how it came to be that we had a surplus of puppies in our street - nearly 8 of them that year. In the neighborhood we did what we could in feeding the mother, and caring for the pups. Being from the street they were dirty, flea-ridden and full of worms. I dusted their sleeping area with diatomaceous earth to kill insects / fleas, gave them careful doses of albendazole and tried to clean up as much as I could. But it was difficult and unsuccessful work.

As the pups grew up, I noticed how each of them developed their own unique personality. There were the bold ones, there were the curious ones and then there were the shy ones. It was interesting to see how their personality affected their lives.

1. The bold and the curious ones tended to comes visit our houses, crawling up stairs and being persistently cute. They were fed more often and taken care of more than those who chose to remain behind. This made them stronger, which in turn meant that they got more share of the food - leaving the runts out to dry when it came to feeding time.
2. However, it also sometimes worked against them - the more outgoing ones put themselves in more danger from passing cars, one of them got nearly run over on the street.
3. Random strangers would drop by to pick up the puppies from the street - they always went for the healthy looking bold ones. This way it turned out that some got adopted and others remained left behind to fend for themselves. In a different country, it may be that those who approached humans are caught and culled, and it is the shy ones who got to survive.

Just based on this simple diversity in their character, I could see how nature bet on at least some of them surviving. It did not matter for the individual to survive, it only mattered that the redundant genetic material they carried was passed on.

tags: #bengaluru #nature