When our hosts asked me why I was vegetarian, my simple reply was “because I like animals”. For those of them who are vegetarian, it’s a part of their religion, and some (maybe all) of them have been vegetarian their whole lives. Anyhow, here are some non-human friends I made on the trip. These animals in Hyderabad are as much a part of the landscape as the people walking the streets. I was surprised to see so many self-sufficient stray dogs, cows, and pigs.
I expected cows to be a bigger deal. I was hoping to witness a scene of traffic stopped for an entire block to let a cow cross the road. Regardless, I was excited to see a few. Sekhar told us that most of the milk commonly sold is watered down in order to drive more of a profit for the sellers. So in that situation, a cow is quite valuable for producing pure milk. Brandon told me that cows would often walk by the office right around 11:30. I hoped to make it outside at that time to see some, but most days, it was a busy time, so I didn’t see any cows until Anil took us out away from HITEC City.
This guy was driving a cow down the road on a scooter surprisingly quickly
Goats are also a valuable milk-producing animal here. We saw a fellow herding some goats, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get a picture. What we saw was something close to this though (thanks, Flickr):
Goat keeper in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand – photo credit: International Livestock Research Institute. Original on Flickr.
Stray dogs were everywhere people were. The waste management system here is quite informal. From what I understand, people drop their garbage on the side of the road, and the city is supposed to come by and sweep it up. I think the dogs play an integral role in eating parts of it. Some of the dogs were skinny and probably had fleas (they rolled around in gravel trying to scratch their backs), but overall, they seemed to be surprisingly healthy considering. They hung out in groups of three to seven, and I probably saw at least ten in a given day. They were territorial with each other – often we would see or hear them barking at other dogs who weren’t from their turf. The dogs slept curled up on the sides of dirt roads. They usually let people walk right next to them. Sometimes I was able to get close-up photos, but sometimes, as soon as I started to pay attention to them or tried to take a photo of one, the entire pack would run away.
Puppies near a chai stand. Brandon contemplated taking one of these home.
The best-fed dogs we saw were near the food court inside Shilparamam.
Camera-fleeing dogs
We only saw pigs on the outskirts of town too. I’d imagine there would be more pigs given how much garbage there is to eat, but maybe the dogs have run them out of their turf.
I think the nature of the way the city has developed has something to do with how intermixed these animals are with the condos and offices. Zoning seems to be an afterthought here, and at best, it is done with semi-permeable boundaries.