[srean]

> and stray dogs

Absolutely yes.

Properly vaccinated and properly treated they can be part of the fauna of the city.

Man and dogs have befriended and helped each other for tens of thousands of years. Turning our backs when we don't need them anymore is positively shitty behavior that humans are capable of.

[junior44660]

A. You may always travel in an car and stay in a gated apartment. But for people who want to walk in the night or use a motorcycle, they are an absolute menace.

B. Vaccination is impossible in a corrupt and low trust society. If government sponsors vaccinations, there will be a significant portion of dogs which will be marked vaccinated without even vaccinating them. Nevermind counterfeit vaccines: https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/news/867/falsified-rabies-vac... . By what measure can I trust that vaccination is actually successful?

C. They make it very hard to jog or bicycle in residential areas. These would otherwise be good options for fitness.

D. Barking

E. Even vaccinated, they gang up and maul children and elderly.

No civilized society has this sort of "fauna".

Instead, people in civilized societies can jog and walk.

"Fauna" it seems.

[srean]

Lol hyperbole much.

It is usually (i) anxiety triggered over reactions on the part of humans or worse, plain abusive behavior (ii) such as kicking, beating the dogs or driving/riding dangerously.

People familiar with dogs have no problems with them.

Stray dogs are warmly welcomed at the Taj hotel of Mumbai. No patron minds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal_Palace_Hotel

Street dogs are allowed to roam the premises of the hotel and sleep in the shade.

That hotel surely has more credit than your account does :) The dogs are not the problem.

Fake vaccines are an issue though, only heard of such cases in North India, but then one should be going after those who are behind that.

[leosanchez]

> It is usually (i) anxiety triggered over reactions on the part of humans or worse, plain abusive behavior (ii) such as kicking, beating the dogs or driving/riding dangerously.

Citation required

[srean]

[1] Srean, Personal communication based on tens of years of direct observations. Hacker News. 2026.

[leosanchez]

Well I and my friend were attacked by bunch of street dogs at night after coming from watching a movie.

Thankfully we were on a moped (scooty) we got out without any harm .

Maybe each individual has their own experience and your experience alone doesn't count as absolute truth ?

[srean]

Sorry that it happened. I can give some useful tips on handling such a situation.

From what I have seen, such incidents cluster into two types

i) the dogs have been habitually harassed by bikers, who hit and kick. You might have no intention of doing that but the dogs don't know that. It's bad human behavior that has trained the dogs to react like that. Unfortunately very common.

ii) these are play chases / mock chases. Their fun goes away when there is no prey that's running away. This is exacerbated by the "prey" speeding up or acting scared.

In both cases, stopping and holding your ground dissuades them if a chase is already on. Note you are considerably bigger and can inflict substantial damage to them. They are respectful when your behavior projects that belief.

If the chase is not already on, slowing down prevents the chase in the first place. They may growl and bark though.

It's only trained attack dogs, guard dogs that will commit to attacking a human holding ground.

If strays posed genuine danger the Taj Mahal hotel would have been out of business several decades ago. Instead of being a failed business it's one of the most esteemed hotels of India.