Boycott Kerala drive against killing strays

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The online campaign against the proposed culling of stray dogs has hotted  up even as a high-level meeting has  decided  to order killing of “dangerous”  dogs.

The campaigners will hold protests at many centres, including in London at 11 a.m. local time,  on July 26. 

They have threatened to boycott Kerala products and tourism till the state government stops all open and discreet culling of dogs. They allege that ‘God's Own Country’  has since become ‘Dog's Own Hell.’

The protests would be held  at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Freedom Park at Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jammu, Laxman Mela Maidan in Lucknow, Mumbai and other cities and towns across India.

Briton Avis Lyons, 75, the founder of Animal Rescue Kerala, earlier based in Kovalam and now settled in London, has been  campaigning against dog culling in Kerala.

The online protest was kicked off in the country by a group of animal lovers. One among them, Mr. Rishi Dev, New Delhi-based architect,  in his Facebook post on July 10 said  that the Kerala government’s decision to cull the stray dogs was  unconstitutional and barbaric.   

He maintains that it was a faceless protest and a common online poster was  being  circulated around the world.

"Animal lovers had kicked off the protest as early as in 2006. In the online campaign until today 46, 609 and more have signed our online petition on www.thepetitionsite.com. The Animal Welfare Board of India has been writing to the Kerala Government and unfortunately no positive response had come,"  said Rishi Dev, an award-winning author of 'Animal and Human Conflict.'

He has held 14 years' research on the issue and hopes that the government will form a committee of experts to find a solution to  the imbroglio. He also said that Avis Lyons will hold protests in Berlin and in one more European country which has a sizable number of tourists coming to Kerala. The target areas for holding the protests are before schools, Kerala House in New Delhi, markets and tourist hubs.

The online campaigners have set a two-week deadline ending on July 24 for the state government and the union tourism ministry to come out with a solution.

They say that the culling of animals is a foolish and barbaric move  which would damage the economy and also dent the state's image on the tourism map of the world.