animals in chennai

This post is dedicated to my niece, Jennifer. Jennifer loves all types of animals, particularly horses and dogs. Along with her parents and elder sister, she is taking special care of our dog, Phoenix, while we are away in India. Thank you Jennifer, Emily, Leslee and Todd - we are so appreciative of your loving care! Historically, feral dogs have been a major problem in large cities in India, including Chennai. These poor creatures roam the streets eating garbage, and I suppose hunting rats and squirrels. They are not treated well by the locals, and are not unjustly feared, given the high incidence of rabies in the country. In the past, we have frequently seen females with a litter of cute little puppies on the streets or in the parks. During our present stay, we've seen lots of strays, but interestingly, no litters of puppies. When we investigated this change, we found that actually significant progress has been made on the feral dog problem here in Chennai. An organization called Blue Cross of India has partnered with the city and for the past several years has been picking up strays, treating them with birth control, and vaccinating them for rabies. Consequently, fewer strays, and less rabies. If you want to read more about this, see www.bluecross.org.in/aboutus.html . They also have an adoption center, where they keep rescued puppies and put them up for adoption. There is a growing awareness of the "Indian Dog", and it's desirability as a pet. They tend to be short haired, 20-30 pounds, and in two basic colors, tan or black and white. The photos accompanying the blog show a guy on our block in the basic tan variety. I also included a photo of the preferred Indian purebred variety, the Alsatian, who was taking a walk down our street the same evening I photographed the tan guy. And now, on to the venerated Indian cow. These too are in much less abundant supply in the city then when I first visited ten years ago. I imagine this is due to increasing congestion and traffic in the city. However, one still frequently sees bullock carts (water buffalo) pulling loads through town, and the occasional stray cow. One of the latter is pictured here. I took this photo across from the entrance to Prabhu's sister's house. It's in a neighborhood called Pursawalkam - a very crowded area with lots of shops and neon. Think Times Square with vastly narrower streets - then impose a cow in your image! Finally, there is a photo here of a lovely katydid, approximately 4" long. We found him (or her) in the corner of a bedroom one night this week. It seemed to have strayed indoors from the mango tree just outside the window (a quick web search informed us that katydids are nocturnal, and some Asian varieties are very fond of mango and hibiscus trees, both of which we have nearby). Prabhu went and hid in another room while Ashwin, Priya and I trapped the offender, and then released it on our balcony. If Ashwin's science teacher, Mr Cassie, reads the blog - we included this picture especially for you! Cheers to all - Leann