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| A city that is actually going to dogs!! | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Mar 1: More than one million stray dogs are on the prowl in Srinagar city that has a population of 1.3 million and the authorities including those of the Srinagar Municipal Corpo-ration (SMC) are watching the spectacle with helplessness.
Cases of dog bites are pouring in daily at the various hospitals of the city and other places in the Valley as doctors complain of shortages of anti-rabies vaccines.
For the last ten years the SMC authorities have not done anything to keep the stray dog population under control in Srinagar. Animal rights groups have voiced concerns over the SMC's dog elimination campaigns which has brought about a situation where the canine population in the city is increasing while the threat to the humans have been on the rise. Poisoning of dogs used to be the choice method of elimination for the SMC in the past which was used to keep the canine population under check. After animal rights groups opposed poisoning of stray dogs which in civilized societies is seen as a cruel and barbaric act, the SMC has done virtually nothing to bring the dog population under control.
Rabies is a fatal disease and once somebody is infected with it, the chances of survival are reduced to zero. Besides, those coming into contact with the rabid animals or the human beings who bear the pathogen run a fairly high risk of falling victims to the lethal germ.
An ambitious plan the SMC announced last year said dog ponds would be built in the city where the dog population would be relocated and isolated from the human population. The SMC also announced an ambitious plan to sterilize the stray dogs in the city to control the population explosion.
Neither the dog ponds were built nor anything substantial has so far been done on the front of sterilization. The dog menace has reached such an alarming proportion that parents think twice before allowing their children to move out of their homes especially during the mornings and the evenings which are the two peak timings for various coaching centres and tuition centres in the city.
The state government has been sleeping over the issue for so long that a deep rooted resentment has started brewing in the masses.
It was a result of this deep rooted resentment against the government's inaction over the issue that some people in the Batmaloo locality of the city came out voluntarily last month and announced they would poison stray dogs in the area to protect their children.
The agitated people also said they were prepared to face legal action on this count.
There can be no law which prevents a government in power from protecting its people. There is no law that restricts a government in power in acting against any animal species, dogs included, if the latter becomes a potential danger to the human population.
There are sufficient laws on the law book which can be invoked to tackle the dog menace powerfully and logically. It is high time the government takes action before the 1.3 million strong population of Srinagar city actually goes to the dogs. |
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