Mad dogs and Parsis

The stray dog issue has plagued Bombay for over two centuries. In fact, this is perhaps the only city to have rioted in defence of dogs, as per a report in The Times of India (TOI) of April 17, 2007. What’s more, the rioters were the most loyal subjects of the crown, the Parsis! The two-day Bombay Dog Riots of June 6 and 7, 1832 were in protest against the indiscriminate culling of dogs. Though the Parsis started the riots, Hindus and Muslims made common cause and joined them on the streets, marking the first instance in Bombay when religious sensibility crossed swords with civil law, as per the TOI. "A mob of around 2,000 men rampaged through the by-lanes of Fort, Bhendi Bazar and Mazagaon with bamboos, clubs, stones and abuse, beating up policemen, gleefully uncoupling carriages and forcing shops to shut,” the report recounts. When Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, the richest Parsi, toured the city in his carriage to calm down the mob, he had to beat a hasty retreat because no one was in any mood to listen to him.

An analytical account of the riots is provided in an academic paper by Canada-based Jesse S. Palsetia titled "Mad Dogs and Parsees, the Bombay Dog Riots of 1832.” The trouble erupted when the government extended the date for culling stray dogs from the summer months of April and May to June because of the sharp rise in cases of hydrophobia (rabies). The announcement came on a day deemed holy by Parsis, for whom the dog has a special significance, especially in the death rites. The mass culling had already excited comment but matters came to a boil when dog-catchers, lured by the eight anna price per canine, began to pick up pets. For two days the mobs ran amok. Finally, the army was called in and the protesters were faced down. The ringleaders were tried in court, Palsetia records.

For the British, the riots were an act of treason and it took some doing for the Parsis to get back into their good books, as per the TOI piece. The government refused to back down and culling continued. More than 7,000 dogs were caught in 1834. If sterilization is today’s humane solution to the stray dog problem, transporting them outside the city was the way out then. The Parsis and Hindus, who built many panjrapols (animal shelters) after the riots, strongly advocated transportation, but the scheme failed because the government was uninterested.