Dinghy Island dogs

For some time now media outlets have been running stories about the existence of Dinghy Island – one of several islets off Karachi ‘s coast – where some kindly, enterprising fisherfolk, no doubt with the help of some caring conservationists, have given sanctuary to feral dogs and taken to feeding them. This is by no means a mercy mission alone but a modest experiment in wildlife conservation. It is a timely and powerful reminder that all that’s required is exercising the will to become agents of change. Fishermen, like many other simple folk, have the means and wherewithal to deliver the change we desire and crave. To underestimate their power and question their resolve would be a gross injustice.

Solutions exist to almost all our problems within the realm of common sense and goodwill. We must be prepared though to embrace the same with open arms.

Now more than ever we need to change the fate of stray dogs and animals in our cities and towns. Culling them is much too cruel and inconsistent with today’s conservation policies. We also need out of the box solutions such as the one developed at Dinghy Island.

It is rarely possible to discover any humanness in a megalopolis that shamelessly culls thousands of feral dogs in the most merciless fashion every year. The unseemly sight of their mass killing is often caught in the streets by shocked bystanders and animal rights activists - and the knave, stone-hearted authorities are just too unmoved by their plight. Nor perhaps will they ever be. Yet in this very coastal city of over 20 million souls, there is proof that we haven’t quite lost all of our humanity – not just yet and not by a long shot!

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2018.

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