Editor,
I have queries to the writer of the obnoxious piece of writing complaining about barking dogs (ST July 13, 2013) What are dogs supposed to do? Speak? Purr? Chirp? Now that we have that out of the way, I’d like to point out that I live in Lumparing, a locality that may not be as high brow as Lumdiengsoh, Motinagar, but it’s still a part of Shillong( not so beloved to me). We have dogs in Lumparing too and I hear them barking through the night, but one thing I’ve never heard is anyone complaining about it. So this whole “control your dog’s bark” thing is completely new to me. I’d also like to point out that at this moment our bitch (female dog) is on heat so one can just imagine the kind of attention our house is getting from neighbouring dogs and even the stray ones and what do we do about it? Nothing. Why? Because she(our female dog) has every right to be on heat and give out pheromones causing all the male kind of her species to go mad over her and they (the male dogs) have every right to fight over her and thereby win a chance to mate. That’s my opinion anyway. I mean if we can procreate to the extent of overpopulation then dogs can have a go at it too. And if they bark and howl into the night in the process, far be it for any of us to start training them on how to copulate quietly. It’s their planet as well.
And that’s just one reason why dogs bark. I know I don’t need to list this out, but something inside me tells me to do it anyway. So here goes:
Dogs bark because they sense the presence of other dogs; they bark when they hear another dog barking; they bark when they hear strange noises (this also includes strange people calling out to neighbours about keeping their dogs quiet); they bark when they hear a mouse scurrying about; they bark at people walking on the street; they bark at cars passing by; they bark when the door bell rings and I think this listing things out was not such a good idea because it looks like it will never end. But the point is that “dogs will bark” and they’ll only stop barking when they meet their maker. At the risk of using too many clichés, men will be men, boys will be boys and dogs will be dogs. Even sophisticated pocket dogs owned by the international celebrity socialites bark and as human beings, the only way to make a dog stop barking is to put it to sleep (and I’m talking about the permanent kind of sleep).
I agree with the writer of the aforementioned article when she says that Shillong has several problems. And yes it might take forever to solve them, but if we’re going to take a crack at it, let’s start with the more human kind like domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, drug addiction, alcoholism etc., When we start talking about barking dogs however, all I have to say is, “Woman, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
Yours etc.,
Dalariti Nongpiur ,
Via email
Cheated by CMJU
Editor,
I was enrolled in the School Of Engineering & Technology, EN-59,Sector-V, Salt Lake, Kolkata which claimed that they are affiliated to CMJ University, Shillong when we took admission in B.tech! After the CMJU scam blew up we asked them about our registration card but they gave us Registration Receipt which is fake! They have a secret tie with CMJ so they gave certificates to students after taking the semester fee! The director Nibir Saha is a great cheat but he is a powerful man so nobody can harm him! Who do we go to in such a situation?
Yours etc.,
Suvam Sarkar,
Kolkata