March 10. “Do other living species share family bonds the way we do?”

“Button, I’ve not done an in-depth study into animal behavior but I’ll tell you about a strange incident that took place some days back that surprised me!”

“What happened?”

“Buzo, who sired MoJo, was brought by our neighbours next door to meet his daughter. As I was out, I was told by my home staff that, the minute MoJo saw Buzo, she put her tail between her legs and ran away and hid!”

“That’s strange! Did she not recognize her dad?”

“I don’ have the strangest clue why she did that! I’ve seen strays move around in family packs. Usually, with pedigrees, what happens is that once the male and female are mated, they are taken their separate ways. The mother carries the litter till they are born and, once again, the owners either gift or sell (usually sell) the pups for huge sums of money. There is no bonding. There is no time the parents get to be with the pups! The male is used only to impregnate the bitch who then gives birth to pups that are sold off!”

“In other words, this is again a money-making game. How much do these business types make from these sales?”

“It’s different for different pedigrees. Prices can even cross a lakh depending on the pedigree. We had once paid 25 grand for a boxer. What we have now started doing is rescue dogs, especially strays who are homeless. Apart from MoJo, we have adopted eight strays. Two, Rani and Mowgli, are at home and the remaining six, Sadhu, Moti, Raja, Shabby, Dushtu and Puchku remain on the streets but are fed by us once every day and taken care of. Incidentally, they eat the same food the three at home eat.”