Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Killing of stray dogs to resume soon

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Dec. 2. The stay issued by the High Court on the earlier Government order banning the killing of stray dogs has been welcomed by the city Corporation, even as animal rights activists have expressed their unhappiness over the decision.

The Corporation Secretary, Sudarsanan, said that the Corporation was awaiting the Government's directive on the issue before resuming the killing of stray dogs. The Corporation was making arrangements to bring in trained dog-catchers so that they can be put on the job as soon as the Government gives the nod, he said.

Following a recent Government order, the local bodies in the State had been directed to desist from killing stray dogs. This had left the Corporation with no alternative but to launch animal birth control (ABC) programmes to control the rising population of stray dogs. However, with the ABC programme too failing to take off owing to popular protests, the Corporation authorities had been under great pressure to resume the killing of the canines.

Many civic officials were of the opinion that ABC programme can only supplement the destruction of stray dogs. They had pointed out that sterilisation does not prevent rabies or prevent citizens from being bitten by marauding packs of dogs.

The Corporation Secretary pointed out that the population of stray dogs had risen uncontrollably and that they had begun to pose grave danger to residents in many localities. However, the Corporation was hampered by the lack of trained dog-catchers, he said.

The ABC programme and the anti-rabies vaccination programme would continue along with the destruction of stray dogs, after creating public awareness, he said.

Supported by the Animal Husbandry department and non-governmental animal rights organisations, the ABC programme involved the capture of stray dogs from various parts of the city, their sterilisation at the veterinary hospital and subsequent release, after attaching identification tags. The Corporation had fully equipped the veterinary hospital in Pettah for launching the ABC project, before it had to be called off following protests by an action council of residents.

PFA unhappy

Meanwhile animal rights activists, unhappy about the sudden turn of events, charged that the stray dog population had risen uncontrollably because the Corporation had done nothing constructive to check the number of dogs from increasing. Instead of giving up on the ABC programme, the Corporation should have been more earnest in its efforts to allay public fears and carry through with the programme, the secretary of the local chapter of People for Animals (PFA), Leela Latheef, said.

The garbage piling up on the streets was one of the basic reasons for the increasing number of stray dogs. In Chennai, the PFA and the city Corporation a successfully carrying out the sterilisation programme, Ms. Latheef said.

She also pointed out that the Corporation had given special training to a team of dog-catchers with the help of Blue Cross in Chennai. They were "untraceable" now, according to the Corporation, she said.

Animal rights activists are planning to get the advice of Maneka Gandhi, the former Union Minister and the founder of PFA, before getting together their act.

FRAT demand

The Federation of Residents' Association (FRAT) has in a statement demanded that the Corporation resume the killing of stray dogs immediately, now that the High Court has issued a stay on the GO banning the killing.

The office bearers of FRAT claimed that according to a survey it had conducted in December last year, over one lakh stray dogs were roaming about the city streets and that on an average over two dozen people were being bitten by stray dogs in various parts of the city every day.

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