An IASH Work-in-Progress Seminar, delivered by Dr Heeral Chhabra (Visiting Research Fellow, 2024)
Preventing the incurable: Rabies and Street dogs in colonial India
This talk aims to highlight the impact of rabies on street dog-human relationships in 19th-20th century colonial India. Rabies is an ancient global disease which has made its presence felt across regions and species. Despite its well attested presence in precolonial times, its global spread in 19th and 20th centuries had a very distinct impact on socio-legal identities of ‘stray’ dogs especially in colonial metropoles like Britain. Blamed as the main spreader of rabies, these ownerless dogs experienced mass elimination leading to ‘stray dog free’ streets. With Britain becoming rabies free in 1902-3, attempts were made to replicate similar measures in colonies like India. This talk attempts to analyse the colonial measures of muzzling and destruction of street dogs in India to investigate the implication of colonial domination for street dogs. It aims to do so by highlight the nature of colonial violence and viewing dogs as responsive historical beings with agency and subjectivity of their own.
Please join in-person, or click the link below to join the webinar:
https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/83015772676
Passcode: b1QpaAD7