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Remove food waste, dogs will go away, says CUPA

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore April 6. Animal rights organisations such as CUPA feel the civic body and citizens should first deal with factors, which lead to street dogs roaming around the City. Issues that need to be addressed include garbage and other sources of food which attract dogs. To this can be added the increasing number of roadside food stalls, meat stalls, and restaurants that dump leftover food in the nearest dustbin.

CUPA has alleged that there are instances of dog breeders and pet owners who abandon unwanted dogs in the streets but this has not been verified. Abandoned animals have usually not been sterilised. Dogs from neighbouring villages also migrate to "dog free" areas in the City. Animals rights activists agree with the supporters of wholesale killing of dogs in some respects. Controlling the stray dogs became necessary to avoid dog bites and rabies. There are cases of dogs chasing vehicles and those riding two-wheelers are at risk. That dogs that are too old, sick or victims of road accidents should be euthanised is a fact admitted by both groups. CUPA feels the birth control and vaccination programme is the best solution. It refers to the WHO guidelines for dog management, which recommends the same. The WHO guidelines are the result of extensive study by scientists, animal control professionals, and leaders of animal protection groups. The animal rights activists point out that the BMP carried out indiscriminate killing of all stray dogs by electrocution for decades with no result. There was no significant reduction in the stray dog population, dog bites, or rabies deaths. To make the dog control programme more effective, it was suggested that each organisation should be given only 20 city wards to handle and that a van provided for every 10 wards. CUPA now has to cover 34 wards and the work gets diffused. Residents' associations should be linked with the NGOs working in the area through organisations such as BATF and Janaagraha with regular meetings. These groups should monitor the work of the NGOs. CUPA and other NGOs have suggested realistic and practical targets such as 400 animals a month in each ward sterilised, vaccinated or euthanised. While there has to be a timeframe for the work, the BMP should make timely payments to keep the work going. Ultimately the success of the more humane approach to the problem of street dogs depends on concerted efforts by the NGOs, the BMP, and citizens' groups.

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