India’s Interesting Stray Dog Policy (Or Lack Thereof)
Sri Lankan street dogs are not so bad, but this one was bitey.
India, like Sri Lanka, has ubiquitous stray dogs, especially in urban areas. These street scavengers exist because of poor garbage practices, but also because of policy – not managing dog birth control and never euthanizing strays. Hence you get about 80,000 people bitten in Mumbai alone last year. And somewhat weird responses like this:
In Mumbai, where more than 80,000 people reported being bitten last year, the government plans to conduct a census of the strays by using motorcycles to chase down dogs and squirt their fur with ink. A member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly proposed in June sending strays to China — where dogs are sometimes eaten — after more than 15,000 people in the state reported being bitten last year. In New Delhi, officials recently announced an intensified sterilization campaign. (NYTimes)
I somehow find it a bit comic, Indian officials chasing dogs on bikes. The part about sending them to China is offensive, the Chinese aren’t big dog eaters at all, they actually fawn over their pet dogs in Beijing. But that’s a politician talking, not a technocrat.
In the rest of the article they discuss actual solutions, which would be controlling the garbage, sterilizing dogs, and euthanizing strays as necessary. The latter practice (killing dogs) has been proscribed since 2001. In Sri Lanka similar moves met with much opposition. I personally think it’s part of a balanced policy, if not a policy in itself.
Stray dogs suffer and they’re a great threat to people. In my neighborhood I sometimes get chased if I go jogging, but our dogs are not so hardcore. I can only imagine how aggressive an Indian city dog would be.
Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 in India.
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I think Sri Lanka is following the Indian policy.
Previously we had the dog pound and the dog catching van.
And now we have Gota :P
i like this phrase, ” but our dogs are not so hardcore. I can only imagine how aggressive an Indian city dog would be.”
nicely squeezed in, if you know what i mean…o.O