Kerala: Skewed tactics may let dogs breed

Thiruvananthapuram: Day by day, the stray dog menace in Kerala is becoming a grave issue raising hackles all over the state. A full-fledged animal birth control (ABC) programme is yet to be in place on the lines of Jaipur, where dog sterilisation and vaccination continue for two decades without culling the animal. But veterinarians and animal lovers demand the primary issue of waste management disposal addressed first before clamouring for a dedicated system of veterinary doctors, support staff and infrastructure to undertake ABC and anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) programmes. Similar to what has been happening in Kerala now, the ‘walled city’ too had a harrowing time with the menace. The authorities there decided to undertake ABC as well as ARV vigorously with stray dogs being sterilised as well as given a shot of anti-rabies vaccine before they are discharged after three days of postoperative stay.

Kerala government struggling to find a solution to the growing dog menace does not have to go all the way to Jaipur to learn how effectively ABC can be undertaken. A dedicated team of veterinary doctors led by Dr Acty George and Dr K. J. Kishore Kumar have been doing yeomen service under the aegis of Kochi Corporation since 28 May 2015. “As of today, we have sterilised 1,960 dogs in Kochi,” said Dr Acty George, the principal investigator who is working for the corporation on a deputation basis. “We also provide them ARV and during the last odd year, we cut the left ear of stray dogs which our dog catchers brought us. This even year we have cut the right ear of the strays. After 1-1.5 years once the resistance power of the vaccination goes, we will re-apply vaccination to those brought to us.”

He says as long as there is no dedicated support system to undertake an effective ABC programme, strays will continue to rule the streets. His team comprises of six veterinarians, four supporting staff, an operation theatre with five beds, doctors' special room, sterilisation room, sterilisation equipment room, preparation room and 35 kennels. One kennel can accommodate two to four stray dogs. At a time, 120 – 140 stray dogs are accommodated here. “It is the political will that matters. If there is no dedicated facility, ABC programme will not sustain. We are doing 30 surgeries per day,” added Dr George who was previously working with UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Thailand.

But Dr Easwaran, former president, Indian Veterinary Association, says the major issue the veterinarians face is the lack of dog catchers coming to the field. Those veterinarians working in the government sector can’t spare their service, and several doctors in the private sector can be appointed on contract basis. “Unfortunately, there is a dearth of trained dog catchers. Recently when an NGO in Palakkad wanted to provide training for dog catchers hardly less than a dozen turned up. Also, facilities should be there to retain the sterilised strays within the veterinary hospital for three days after the surgery,” he told DC.

Palakkad-based Sally Kannan, who is also an Animal Welfare Officer and outreach consultant for Humane Society International, says dog catchers in the state are familiar with killing stray dogs. But she fears that now when they are after them, chances of friendly dogs getting killed are high. “I am sure that not a single aggressive stray dog will be killed by the government’s new order. I have held talks with Kudumbashree unit in Palakkad so that women also enter the trade of dog catching. Stray dogs are comfortable with women as they are less fearful of them,” she told DC.

Another animal lover and retired professor Thankachy Harindran, based in Kollam, is running a shelter home for abandoned and stray dogs at Adichanalloor. “I could do ABC programme only until 2012 as it was not economically viable for us to bring in a team of doctors and supporting staff from other districts. Our shelter has currently 52 dogs. A semi-permanent structure has to be implemented in all the panchayats,” said Thankachy, president of Kollam PFA chapter. But a senior veterinarian based in the capital city on condition of anonymity told DC that the first thing the government has to do urgently is to have a waste management disposal system in place. He warned that the pack of stray dogs that killed 65-year-old Silluamma at Pulluvila beach Friday night had been wild dogs that are known to target a prey and then hunt and kill it in no time.

“Wild dogs have undergone transformation by being domesticated. Later they turn out to be feral or free-ranging dogs. They tend to prey on vulnerable human beings. The leader of the pack has to be killed, and that pack has to be disintegrated. Or else it will attack again,” said a senior veterinarian. With the mushrooming of illegal slaughter houses in Thiruvananthapuram and its suburban areas as well as across the state, there is no dearth of meat waste available for stray dogs. An animal lover told DC that if earlier a female dog in heat would conceive only by a year, now it gives birth by six months of age which throws a grave issue before the government. As long as the local bodies act to have an effective waste management disposal and take steps to curb the mushrooming of slaughter houses, crores of money being pumped into the ABC and ARV programmes will remain futile.

Venom shots to put dogs to sleep

The state government on Tuesday  decided to cull aggressive dogs by injecting poison based on the certificates issued by veterinarians. As per the present plans that may trigger a controversy, the dog catchers will net dogs, particularly aggressive leaders of every pack.  The leaders will be  targeted to lower the aggression of other canines.  Based on the certification from veterinarians, aggressive ones will be killed  and the others will be spayed and neutered, officials said.

“The leader of the pack or alpha dog is  hard to catch as it is swift and has good sense of smell. This may ensure that it will flee the spot before the dog catcher comes. The less aggressive ones who hang around dog catchers are likely to be taken in. The government officials seem to be needing numbers at the moment.  So all types of dogs are likely to be killed,” said veterinarian L.J. Lawrence. The local bodies have been asked to utilise their own planned fund to intensify the ABC programmes that will start from October 1.

Death in two minutes
The present plan will be to inject dogs with strong barbiturates  that will trigger cardiac arrest in seconds and kill them  in one to two minutes. Mr K.T. Jaleel, Local Administration Minister,  said here that the injections will be the most humane form of eliminating dogs which are often bashed to death by mobs during dog bite incidents. The cost of a vial to kill  each dog will be around Rs 100, which is around eight times cheaper than doing ABC programmes.