Bengaluru's vicious strays have claimed one more life. Children are easy targets for these feral packs, which live around garbage dumps, feeding on scraps and meat waste that has not been properly disposed. The BBMP's efforts, although inadequate, are also thwarted by animal activists, which has only served to confuse the issue. The Palike claims some 30 dogs are treated each day as part of its Animal Birth Control (ABC) Programme but this clearly isn't enough. Members of the public are calling for aggressive dogs to be culled, but a stay order from the Supreme Court, obtained by animal activists, means this is no longer an option. Still, experts maintain that only dogs which are hungry or in heat are prone to aggression and can be tackled under ABC. They claim that BBMP lacks the expertise, putting the city’s children in peril, reports Aknisree Karthik.
The city is no stranger to children being mauled by stray dogs that have made walking in its streets difficult as they roam in packs, barking and scaring the living daylights out of pedestrians. In the latest incident , a 11 -year -old boy, Praveen, was mauled by stray dogs in Vibhutipura last week and although admitted to hospital, did not survive the bites he had received. Like the locals of Vibhutipura, who believe they are seeing more stray dogs in their midst due to dumping of rubbish, especially by butchers, into their lake, solid waste management experts and animal activists too blame the growing menace of street dogs on poor garbage collection and the “half-hearted implementation” of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme in the city .
Ms Suparna Ganguly of CUPA claims the BBMP’s animal husbandry department has a lot to answer for in the implementation of the ABC programme. "The programme is not being carried out the way it should be. Although the BBMP has roped in nearly nine NGOs to help carry it out, some of them don’t have the expertise to do so. They were chosen without proper checks and some have been forced to opt out as the department is not releasing them enough funds," she says.
"Picking up strays from location A and then releasing them in location B after neutering them under ABC only spells trouble for both the people and other strays in the new area they are relocated to as the dogs can live in harmony only in the places they are accustomed to and have knowledge of the food source," the activist explains. Although there is a demand for culling of the stray dogs, Ms Ganguly doesn’t believe this will help. In her view, the solution lies in proper implementation of the ABC programme and in measures to stabilise the population of the strays and control the aggressive among them.
"Culling of dogs is not the right solution as it does not really solve the problem. ABC should be done round the year and not sporadically," she insists. Solid waste management expert, Ramakanth, says that unless the garbage collection is improved, the stray dog menace will continue to haunt the city. "What do you expect the people to do with their garbage when it is not collected? They just dump it wherever possible, creating blackspots that are an ideal breeding ground for stray dogs. In some wards like HSR Layout, Yelahanka and Dodda Bommasandra, where garbage collection is reasonably good, you don’t find many strays,” he observes.
Solid waste expert and co-founder of Friends of Lakes, Ram Prasad feels indiscriminate disposal of meat waste is to blame too. "Chicken and meat waste is dumped near lakes and in remote places, attracting street dogs. They become very ferocious when they repeatedly feed on it. The BBMP must take steps to collect and dispose of meat waste properly," he suggests.
Cull the aggressive dogs, demand angry residents
Seeing the threat that aggressive stray dogs are to passersby in the streets of the city, some believe their population should be culled for the safety of people and children, an option that animal rights activist are strongly against. “ Why can't the civic body catch all these mad stray dogs and cull them?” demands Ms Meera, who lives in Padarayanapura. Another Bengalurean, Rajasundaram, who returns home at odd hours from work, says he is afraid of being attacked by stray dogs all the time. "Earlier we did not see this many stray dogs in the city. But now you find them in every lane, ready to attack passersby. Although we love animals, we are afraid of them and animal activists, who are against the culling of mad dogs, should realise the fear we live in because of them," he pleads.
Joint director of the BBMP’s animal husbandry wing, Dr G Anand, however, explains that the civic body’s hands are tied as far as culling is concerned as animal rights activists are not letting it happen. “Although going by the High Court order, we are authorised to cull barking, chasing and biting dogs, a few animal activists have got a stay order on this from the Supreme Court,” he says, adding that the only hope presently lies in the Animal Birth Control programme. While he claims the programme is on the right track, animal rights activists says the civic agency needs to do a dog census to see if it has succeeded. Pointing out that the BBMP has not done any dog census since 2012, an activist says under the rules it is supposed to be done every five years. “This will tell us whether we are heading in the right direction or not," she argues.
