By day, the dogs in Thimphu generally slumber in docility. By night, they form gangs and hunt. I haven’t seen this, but I’ve known people that were bitten (and suffered months of rabies shots) and have heard the gang warfare. Yesterday, I came across a couple of dogs attacking a small boy, not much taller than them. In broad daylight, they’d come in from both sides, forcing him to swing a little stick he picked up in defence back and forth as far as he could twist. Even at about 6 years old, he had the presence of mind to stand his ground and scream at them rather than trying to run or curling up in a ball. I was stuck on the other side of the street, many cars away from being a hero. A young man walking down the hill behind me ‘sha’d’ at them, but the dogs paid him no mind. The boy had something they wanted. In the end, a taxi driver stopped next to him, stuck his arm out his window and started banging his door, sending the dogs scurrying.