Street Dogs

Many years ago, I received a request to create a poster of Indian street dogs ("Streeties") by a Seattle-based rescue group who would take these dogs off the streets in India and rehome them in the USA. At the time I was so excited to draw these dogs that I didn't question the ethics of this whole operation. I assumed that the streeties were "happy" with their new American families, that this type of rescue was good.

[ Aditi Joshi's streeties in Mumbai were my models for these drawings]

Now when I think of streeties being uprooted from their local/social environments, and taken away from the people who feed them and fight for them, away to a totally different (White Saviorist) culture that places more value on "obedience" and "friendliness" than freedom for the dog to choose and negotiate their relationships, this feels sad and wrong.

I highly recommend this extremely enlightening interview with Sindhoor Pangal on Michael Shikashio's "The Bitey End of The Dog" podcast series.

Apologies for my messy handwriting.