Photo of Kalu by HTTP 500
Word is that dog culling will not resume (previously here, here and here). Apparently that was just some shit Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.
Health Ministry spokesman W. M. D. Wanninayake told The Sunday Leader that there was no move to kill stray dogs and said that such claims were based on a statement made by Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena in Kalutara last week which was taken out of context.
The minister had said that the authorities are being pushed towards revoking a “no kill” policy on stray dogs but insisted that the policy will continue. (The Sunday Leader)
Sri Lankan governance is democratic in its own way, governators make rather sweeping statements and people push back or don’t. Often the stuff gets done anyways, but there is some process, albeit quite informal. There was a lot of talk, especially on social media, against the culling, much of it using the lie that the government would cull 3 million dogs (that’s the total population, the word is cull, not genocide), but more of it on humane grounds. Which I get, though I think culling is often a humane option at least as part of a broader policy. That must also include cleaning up the garbage and food on the streets, something I hope they do.
Since this is a rather informal process, it’s not clear whether the five year ban on culling will continue, or will be suspended later, or what. Like the tourism visa policy and vegetable crates thing, they seem to be making policy in real time, ie, throwing shit at the fan and seeing what blows back. I dunno. Shit ministers say.
w00t!
I guess we’ll have to do our own culling after all. I think hunting bows are legal in SL.
Finally a good idea comes from the government and they abandon it due to pressure. Our country is in a pathetic state indeed.
The Colombo 7 “nona”s who shouted against this are not the ones suffering from the stray dog problem. It is us, the working class that have to endure the hardship of getting bitten by stray dogs. And stepping on dog feces on every other step when we walk down a street. (Yes. We walk. We do not have luxury vehicles like you lot)