Why do dogs chase cars?

For that matter, bikes too.

There were a lot of hypotheses put forward by my friends here in Gurgaon for this particular question. The first one I got was since dogs are pack animals with an instinct to attack herbivores much larger than them, think car to be an herbivore and hence attack it. May be the fact that cars are big, moving and making noise might force dogs to think that they are herbivores running away and hence they attack. I did not accept this because dogs chase cars only during the night and not during the day.

The second answer I got was rather thought provoking. My namesake gave the hypothesis that a dog would chase a car if it thinks that a car of similar colour/size had killed (or would kill!) his/her girlfriend/boyfriend! I rebutted with the same day-night reason.

The sad part is when these dogs chase cars on the national highway, they get killed nastily. I pity them. But still the question lingers on, why do dogs chase cars?

Dogs are reproducing at the rate of knots. Near my house here, there would at least be 5-6 dogs patrolling, barking and intimidating people (like me). If I take our colony, there would at least be 20-25 mongrels roaming around. I think it is better to take these away from residential areas and house them some where else. This would also prevent them from getting smashed by the wheels of a jumbo car carrier.

Can sound energy be converted to other forms of energy? Dogs would be my primary investment!!