Its a dogs life...

They say its a "dog eat dog world" that we live in, and if that is so it's definitely a dogs life for those inhabitants of Colombo ( quadruped and biped) who struggle day in day out to find a bit of space to call their own.For those of us who are pedestrians and commute daily to work using public transportation, it sometimes is literally a struggle to walk on the sidewalk; and the fact that the sidewalk itself if riddled with potholes,broken paving blocks,garbage and other undesirable objects adds to the adventure of negotiating the busy streets of the city.But what about the quadruped inhabitants of this microcosm.

The question of stray dogs in the city and what to do with them has become one of those perennial questions that you can never really find an answer.Although there have been groups of individuals who have petitioned against the inhuman treatment of these animals by municipal authorities,little has been done to actually do something practical about situation.So,they multiply and spread across the city,creating their own packs/gangs,feeding on the refuse that we throw out and jostle for space with us.In many ways they have learnt to co-habit with their fellow human companions;those of us who are invisible unless they come and tug at our guilty consciences from time to time.

I feel that they are the true inhabitants of Colombo-those who are invisible.If you care to look into their eyes (both human and animal) as you walk by pretending not to see them,you might just glimpse not just their proverbial humanity but the soul of the city itself-the harshness and the cruelty that is so much a part of our everyday existence.

It truly is a dogs life,for all of us.