Tamashbeen
This is a distubring photo. Maybe even more than the one I had posted earlier.
It shows “sanitary workers” (wow, what a ‘sanitary’ spin!) in Karachi disposing of “dog carcasses” in Karachi as part of a municipal campaign to “eliminate” stray dogs. Supposedly, there are an alarming number of stray dogs in Karachi and around 150,000 people in Pakistan are bitten by stray dogs annually.
I find the picture of so many dead dogs disturbing and I am sorry to shove it in your face, but I have been wondering whether there is a better solution to this. There has to be. But what?
Life as a stray dog in Pakistan cannot be easy or good for the dog. And as many of us know, living around stray dogs is not easy or good either. In many cases they turn into semi-wild packs and there are real dangers for people as well as dogs.
The idea that some dogs have to be put to sleep is something people do not talk much about but it is something that happens everywhere. In the US, for example, between 5-7 million dogs are “put to sleep” every year. The question really is HOW they are treated while they are alive and as they are put to sleep. And I wonder HOW these dogs were “eliminated”?
I wonder also, what the right way to do this is? I ask because I really do not know. I do know that dealing with stray dogs, not just in Karachi but everywhere, is important for people as well as these dogs. But how?
I guess I am repeating my question again and again. But that is because I really want to know. In looking for answers I discovered that there exists something called PAWS – The Pakistan Animal Welfare Society. I went through their very nicely designed and informative website, but I did not find the answers I was looking for there either. Do you have any ideas?
This is simply the most practical of solving the stray dogs problem. Given the other problems our country is facing currently, lets not get carried away by the photo.
Is this plea for mercy only for dogs? What about all the other animals that are slaughtered for food in the millions in the very meat-eating Pakistan? What about animals sacrificed in the millions for Id, etc? Are they not deserving of mercy? Just want to know what people think of what strikes me as a double standard.
Ahmed
Dogs are taken to a pound in the US. Rescue shelters or families may adopt dogs from these shelters as pets. If the dogs are not adopted withing a few days of being taken to the pound, they are ‘put down’ by lethal injection (the same as the death penalty for humans in most states in the US). The problem for Pakistan is the number of stray dogs. I am not sure if the government in Pakistan can afford the same… but the current method is less than ideal. Neutering the dogs en mass will be the best way – I think.
In my very humble layman opinion…this is a great program…and it should be extended to stray generals, politicians, judiciary and media too
I am not sure about Pakistan but here in the US the law varies by the state. The most common way is called euthanasia. They are injected with a controlled substance (mostly Barbituates) in a very humane way. Only a licensed vet can administer the drug.
I hope in Pakistan they use a similar way to euthanise these animals. Decades ago, it was a normal practice worldwide to put animals to sleep by shooting them in the head or putting them in a gas chabmer.