In Pakistan, particularly in the bigger cities, such as Lahore and Karachi dog killing has become a serious issue as it appears that the only resolution to the growing dog population and dog bite cases is killing the animal. So far rabies and dog bites appear to be the only justification offered by the Government for initiating drives to shoot or poison dogs. But the question is that is this the real reason or are we just intolerant to dogs and insensitive to how we treat them? The problem actually goes way beyond the simplistic approach of killing rather than curing the problems. First of all, there is no data on the basis of which it is evident that there is a rabies epidemic that necessitates killing the dogs. Secondly, there is no coordination between Government departments to identify the issues related to and the issues associated with the growing dog population. Finally, there is no real conviction to resolve the problems compassionately, in a humane way.
The Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Act, 1890 (“Act”) is the main legislation regarding animals which includes pet dogs as well as stray dogs. The Act criminalizes the killing of any animal unnecessarily. Section 5 of the Act prescribed a penalty for killing animals unnecessarily or cruelly with a punishment of Rs.200/- and up to six months imprisonment. Section 10 (2) says that if any Police Officer above the rank of a constable finds any animal which might be severely injured or is in a horrible physical condition then they are allowed to call the veterinary officer of that area who shall examine the animal and if the animal is mortality injured then the veterinary officer may allow the animal to be destroyed put to sleep.
Although there is law dealing with animals and their rights, there is still little to no talk about the dog population and what should be done with it. In my opinion, that is the reason why the local government resorts to killing dogs in such an inhumane way. The development regarding animal welfare and controlling the dog population at a specific level is very minimal and it is something the public has not been made aware of and so the public views the dogs as a threat with killing as the only solution.
One of the vital issues, in this case, is the attitude of the public. Educating the public is a vital part of solving the problem. It is clear, that culling is a very short-term solution that causes no dent in the problem which we can see from the very fact that dog culling has been practiced for over two decades yet we still find ourselves questioning whether it has made a difference or not. If we are to ever work towards a long-term plan and establish a more inclusive and compassionate community then we need to work on the animal welfare laws, we need to involve the local governments, NGOs, government-funded foundations and individuals as well. There needs to be a system to work through the problem with the support of the public. Changing public attitudes towards animals particularly dogs is vital for which there must be media campaigns as well as programs at the local level. Public involvement to keep neighbourhoods clean and to pitch in and feed stray dogs will help develop compassion towards dogs. Schools can also hold programs on how to save hungry or homeless animals.
It is also important to conduct a count of the dog population stray and pets with emphasis on area-wise distribution. On the basis of this count, efforts can be made to initiate a Collect Neuter Vaccinate and Return (CNVR) project and keep a count on the number of dogs vaccinated and those left stray in a particular area. This will definitely help reduce and maintain the population in the heavily populated areas.
As done in the United Kingdom, the registration of dogs is also very important and micro-chipping should be considered as well. Many stray animals are likely to be lost pets and having the chipped or registered allows authorities to know if they belong to someone and contact the owner in case the owner cannot be found, they should be kept at local shelters for adoption.
In many countries, there is a large number of animal welfare organizations that are working with stray animals. In recent years several such organizations have also come up in Pakistan, one of the biggest ones being ACF Animal Rescue Foundation in Karachi or Todds Welfare Society in Lahore. These organizations work on projects like “Rabies Free Karachi” and work to spay, neuter and vaccinate their animals as well as find homes for strays. However, such organizations often find themselves struggling to pay for all the supplies needed as some solely depend on public donations and since people aren’t too aware of how to provide for animals the donations can be less frequent. Therefore, It is important that the government establishes its own organization as well to support this work in collaboration with established centers.
As far as the rabies problem goes, surveys need to be done on the number of dog bite cases in one year and ascertain the reasons for the dog bites. It should be mandatory that all dogs are vaccinated irrespective of if they are pets or stray. Lastly, I would say education and awareness is the key. Breeders need to learn to not over breed an animal beyond its capacity, owners need to be more responsible in caring for their pets and their needs to be more public involvement in issues like this. The current dog population does pose a problem to the people since they are most affected by it and it is necessary to find sustainable solutions, long term, and short term.
Conclusively, I can say that as citizens we need to develop more compassion for the living beings that share this land with us and our practices need to be more humane and sustainable. The culling of dogs is an unnecessary, cruel and short term solution to a rising problem. We need to make efforts to initiate projects to vaccinate, spay/neuter the dogs to maintain their population. We need to encourage people to support the NGOs and have local authorities promote their efforts as well as making policies to improve conditions. Dogs, like humans, are living beings and their population is continuously rising which isn’t pleasant for us or the dogs who have to starve and live in the streets. We can’t simply eradicate the problem by killing them, so we have to put in our time and effort to solve the problem in a substantive manner.