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?
if you live in older, low-middle-income areas of Karachi, you would have said “That’s all they got hold of?” There are way too many stray dogs in Karachi and need to be eliminated ASAP. They are danger and spread disease.
In case anyone is wondering how these dogs are killed, back in the 70’s-80’s I once witnessed this “clean up” and the method was feeding the dog some poisoned food. It was horrific to watch! After eating the dog started running at full speed towards where I was standing with some other kids and we all freaked out. We thought the dog had gone crazy from rabies and was going to bite us. But then he just dropped dead right in front of us. It’s later we found out that the dog was poisoned. Worse part is that this was no stray dog.
PAWS recommends the World Health Organisation endorsed and proven method of controlling stray animal populations — called animal birth control (ABC). You can find further information under Campaigns > Stray Dog Management on their website.