Uproar over dog cull in Bali

Denpasar: Among the white sandy beaches, luxury villas and temples, authorities on the Indonesian island of Bali are carrying out mass culls of dogs in an anti-rabies campaign.

Despite a stomach-churning 16-minute YouTube video of a mass slaughter that has prompted outrage from animal welfare groups, Bali animal husbandry department chief Putu Sumantra said there were no plans to end the practice.

“The dogs culled were smuggled illegally. When that happens, we try to find the owners to return them, and ensure they are vaccinated. But if they have no owners, we have to cull them,” Sumantra said, adding that the persistent problem “requires firm action”.

The footage shows more than 30 dogs squealing before they are given lethal injections to the heart and piled on top of each other as they convulse to their deaths.

A uniformed employee is seen smiling at a small fluffy pomeranian as she takes picture of it on her smartphone seconds before it is injected, along with Siberian huskies, collie dogs and pugs.

Although the footage was first posted in April, a repost this week sent the video viral, with 40,000 views in three days.

People for the ethical treatment of animals condemned the “inhumane slaughter”.

“Local animal welfare groups have run successful vaccination programmes and the number of humans becoming infected with rabies has fallen dramatically,” it said.