For the last few years, occasionally, I witness a curious behavior from some street dogs. When they see me, they don’t bark or wag tail (often both together) but quickly run away and hide in road side drainage. A bit like rats!

I think I know what’s going on.

The municipality has aggressively been neutering dogs in my locality. Road-side drainage provides an escape from the capture from neutering. Any strategy that helps dogs survive the neutering is being selected for.

Drainage in any Indian city are usually in bad shape, unkempt and usually not covered. Most days they do not have flowing water. Dogs can enter and exit these drainage easily, sleep inside them, and also raise their pups. A non-zero percentage of dogs that are now breeding heavily are using these drainage effectively.

No wonder that their pups have learnt this behavior. Instead of barking at me or interacting with me in more benign ways, they quietly run to their shelter like a rat when they see unknown humans approaching them. This keeps them safe from neutering from municipality staff to breed another day.