Why culling stray dogs might be our only option

Numerous studies suggest how stray dogs cause economic losses by killing livestock and spreading diseases

Most of us love dogs. They are interactive, playful and very loyal as pets. Besides this, they are excellent service animals, used as guides for people who are either blind or deaf. But the same canine can be dangerous with serious ecological and economic impacts when it is a stray.

Threatening the environment

Stray dogs are a threat to ecology and present economic problems. They spread diseases, kill wildlife species and compete with indigenous species. They carry pathogens such as rabies, parvovirus and canine distemper virus. These pathogens can be transmitted to other wildlife species and even humans in the vicinity and treatment of these viruses is expensive, especially if delayed. According to 2004 World Health Organisation’s data, a person is bitten every two seconds and someone dies from rabies every 30 minutes in Asia.



Strays also regularly kill wildlife, such as marine turtles on our beaches. They eat both eggs and hatchlings. Although we have not yet looked into how they impact migratory birds, but enough research globally indicates that presence of stray dogs leads to fewer wild canines, including foxes, leopard cats, martens and pheasant birds in the area. Besides, they even prey on wild ungulates. As a result, eradication of stray dogs and cats is a common practice for protection of wildlife species in conservation. These animals even as pets kill native birds as an instinctive behaviour, which is, however, managed through different ways to minimise the impact.

Numerous studies from different parts of the world further suggest how stray dogs cause economic losses by killing livestock and spreading diseases. We need to research in this area, as well as the impacts of stray dogs on wildlife species not just around Karachi but in other cities too. There is a thriving dog population in Murree and Ayubia that are a treat for the leopards, but at the same time they may also be impacting indigenous wildlife species.



Other ways to solve the problem

Recently, District Municipal Corporation in Karachi culled over 700 dogs. The news is devastating, but strays need to be managed, either through humane deaths or rescue centres, where they can be neutered, vaccinated and given shelter for life or placed for adoption. They should not be released back in the open. Pakistan, however, lacks rescue facilities and very few individuals consider adopting a stray. The only animal rescue centre I have seen is that of late Abdul Sattar Edhi’s.

A few years ago, I visited Edhi Animal Shelter and encountered all kinds of animals, from cats and dogs to donkeys. But the place is not enough to accommodate all stray animals; we need many more to give stray animals a good life, along with raising awareness about adopting them. Although this may not be an eternal solution, even a country such as Britain, known to be a dog loving nation, dealt with 102,363 stray and abandoned dogs last year, out of which about 47,000 dogs were dumped by their owners and 5,000 were culled. Nonetheless, an abundance of rescue centres and individuals willing to adopt strays can help curb the population, but until then we will need to manage them by culling. Good animal welfare is not just about letting an animal live, it is about giving it a ‘good’ life, where an animal is free of hunger, thirst, fear and distress, and can exhibit its normal behaviour. Otherwise, a peaceful death is better.



For now, how an animal is culled and disposed off are critical questions. The poison used should act fast and municipalities must ensure that each animal receives enough dosage for it to die quickly, to avoid prolonged suffering. However, considering a poison may never be able to give a peaceful death, these animals should be caught and given an intravenous high dose of anaesthesia to make it humane. This requires a lot more organised human resource. I am not sure what poison was used to cull the dogs in the metropolis but their carcasses were disposed off at a landfill site, which could have been consumed by other carnivores and caused further poisoning. For instance, there are endangered Egyptian vultures in the outskirts of Karachi and other scavengers such as kites, mynas, jackals and etcetera. Besides, the carcasses can continue to spread diseases if not managed properly through a deep burial or incineration.

Cities usually become a source of regular food supply for stray dogs. Hence, alongside humane culling of strays, urban centres also need to improve their solid waste management as it provides food to these fast-breeding canines.

Dr Uzma Khan is an endangered species management specialist and can be reached at [e-mail].