Dog-bites on the wane in Peshawar

Canine neutering drive helps decrease dog attack cases

PESHAWAR:

The initiative of neutering stray dogs with the objective of controlling their population and containing the deadly zoonotic disease of rabies has shown encouraging results.

The project has resulted in the reduction of canine bites by more than 50 percent in the provincial metropolis.

Now castration of stray dogs will start in Mardan, Swat, Kohat, Bannu, Abbotabad and DI Khan, a senior official said.

The three-year record of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), the largest healthcare facility of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), has shown that since the inception of dog neutering campaign in Peshawar, the dog-bite cases have been drastically reduced to a figure of 3,459 in 2021 from a high of 8,732 in 2019.

In 2020, 5,394 dog-bite cases were reported to the hospital.

“Decrease in dog-bite cases is an indication of a reduction in the population of stray dogs and achievement of the objective for which the project was launched in Peshawar in the year 2019,” said Project Director Dr Masoom Ali Shah.

The drive was introduced in Peshawar as a replication of WHO recommended programme of trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) to control rabies and overpopulation of street dogs, Dr Mosoom explained.

The initiative was a pilot project and after evaluation of its encouraging results, the livestock and dairy development department of K-P has decided its extension to all the divisional headquarters of the province, he observed.

The project helped in reducing infection of deadly rabies disease from 8,000 cases to 3,000 during that period at LRH, he claimed.

Apart from achieving positive results with regard to public health, the TNVR drive also helped in transition of rabies control policy from cruel practice of dog culling to neutering the animal, he added.

During the TNVR initiative, livestock department established a state-of-the-art operation theater in Peshawar having the capacity of operating upon several dogs on a daily basis.

Before releasing the dog in the open after operation, a collar fitted with reflectors is fixed around its neck and a tattoo is printed on ear as a mark of identity that the dog is already operated upon, he told APP.

During the neutering procedure, the dog is also vaccinated against rabies. In case a dog is found to be rabid, the animal is euthanized in the interest of public safety.

The project to increase the availability of dog neutering services in K-P is estimated to cost approximately Rs40.7 million, but funding approval is still pending before work can commence, he added

Meanwhile, Pakistan Animal Rights Advocacy Group (PARAG), an association of civil and animal right activists, has appreciated transition of anti-rabies control programme from dog culling to neutering.

“That is indeed the right direction for containing rabies and population of stray dogs as recommended by WHO,” observed Dr Ayeza Haider, Chairman PARAG.

Talking to APP, Dr Ayeza said that Punjab province has also formulated a new policy in line with the WHO recommended TNVR approach.

The implementation of the policy in the whole country is needed to ensure prevention of cruelty against animals, she stressed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2023.