This refers to the report that a pack of stray dogs mauled a toddler to death in Bangalore (Jan. 13). Is it possible to contain the population of stray dogs through the Animal Birth Control scheme at all? The Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Hyderabad, did a census of stray dogs there and its figures showed that the ABC is a pointless exercise. By operating on a few dogs in cities we do not even scratch the problem. It is like trying to empty a vast lake with a bottomless bucket. A pair of dogs can produce 400 puppies in three years and 7,000 in seven years. Unless you operate on both male and female dogs at one go — an impossible proposition — the scheme is bound to fail. While you operate on a few, a thousand others are producing more litters. As the proverb goes, you cannot jump across half the well. For certain problems there is no partial solution.
Consider the facts. Rabies claims 35,000 lives, mostly the poor of the poorest, in India every year. This is 81 per cent of all rabies deaths in the world. These are only deaths that have been recorded (there is no stray dog in Lakshadweep and no rabies either).
Each year in India, about one million people are bitten by rabid dogs and go in for anti-rabies shots. For dogs, an anti-rabies vaccine is to be administered annually. Can this be done to the millions of strays? The first step in tackling the stray dog problem is to accept that ABC is totally ineffective.
S. Theodore Baskaran,
Bangalore
Such tragic incidents, though isolated, need to be acted upon. Most strays are harmless and friendly. Indiscriminate killing of stray dogs should be avoided as it is not the solution.
The ABC programme carried out by NGOs has delivered results. Perhaps, The Hindu can support animal welfare measures that are humane.
George Mathew,
Bangalore
