Civic staff on dog-killing spree

Rajahmundry: The civic authorities are said to have killed nearly 500 stray dogs in the municipal corporation limits in the last few days in the most brutal manner, flouting the Supreme Court orders.

The apex court issued an order recently stating that even a mad dog is not supposed to be killed. It should be secured in a kennel and be allowed to die naturally under the observation of a veterinary doctor. The rules also specify that a rabid or mad dog, posing grave danger to the general public, can be put to death under the observation of a veterinary doctor by administering a lethal injection.

The Animal Welfare Board of India gives clear guidelines on the protection of dogs. Flouting all existing norms, the civic authorities are identifying stray dogs and killing them mercilessly. They hire daily wage workers at night, who target some strays and lure them with food comprising of raw waste meat, either chicken or mutton, laced with poison, which soon causes their death.

The workers arrive next morning where the dogs were put to death, claiming that someone had complained to them about collecting the carcasses of stray dogs, and carry them off in a garbage van to dispose of them.

This has caused widespread shock. Animal Welfare Board of India welfare officer P.B.K. Acharyulu said, “Killing of stray dogs with poison is illegal. The civic authorities are even killing dogs which were sterilised and vaccinated earlier under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ARV) programme. The civic officials should stop such killing and revive the ABC and ARV programme.”  

Dog lovers are incensed. Advocate Shyam Prasad, a dog lover, said, “On a single day, 25 dogs were killed by poisoning in T. Nagar from the Godavari Bund Road to the Main Road. The civic authorities are eliminating dogs in a brutal manner.”

Animal welfare activists have pointed out that if the community dogs were killed in a street or locality, there would be a vacuum that dogs from other areas would try to fill -- and no one knew whether they were rabid or mad. These dogs may infect the existing dogs with rabies by biting them during a struggle for area domination and the presence of rabid or mad dogs would always pose a threat to residents. Municipal health officer Dr O. Venkata Indira denied any such killing of stray dogs and said, “We know that such a practice is illegal and we will never do it.”