Daily Times

In a country where pet-owning is still taboo it is natural that stray dog population will increase. This, however, does not mean that pet dogs do not attack humans or animals in front of them. A dog, either a pet or stray, exhibits egregious behaviour when it is in the company of other dog(s) and ends up incurring injuries on passersby, mostly children. All over the world, dog-incurred injuries are becoming a major public health concern. Dog bites and ensuing rabies-infected deaths have become a new normal in Pakistan. In Sindh alone, 25 people died from rabies, and thousands were treated for dog bite injuries. The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre registered 10,850 dog-bite patients in 2019 compared to 8,000 registered in 2018. Awakening to the deaths, the Sindh government has proposed a Rs1 billion programme on vaccination of stray dogs to control their population. The programme titled ‘Fight against rabies and population control of street dogs’ envisages vaccination of dogs in three years. The plan, awaiting the approval of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, will have funds from non-annual development programme with multiple components of the campaign. Under the plan, district municipal corporations will provide the staff for the campaign in their respective areas to vaccine the dogs round-the-clock. The staff will be fielded after phases of training on vaccination and animal handling by professional institutions and experts. The Sindh government may collaborate with their counterparts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who have already carried out such programmes in the province, controlling dog population and dog-related injuries and deaths.

The government needs to start the programme on a war-footing as dog bites tend to go up in summers. The whole world is facing a shortage of anti-rabies vaccines, so are Sindh and other provinces. The situation needs enormous efforts as Karachi alone receives more than 150 dog-bite cases on a daily basis. Also, every dog-bite case is not of rabies. Our part of the world needs to be educated about the animals carrying rabies. People should be educated on animal handling. In this regard, civil society and media should also join the government’s efforts to make Sindh and all Pakistan rabies-free. *