850 stray dogs shot dead in a week

Animal rights campaigners propose vaccination of stray dogs.

LAHORE:


As many as 850 stray dogs have been shot dead in four towns of the city since last Monday.


Tariq Zaman, staff officer to the DCO, told The Express Tribune that stray dogs had been ordered killed after the DCO’s office received several complaints of dog bites.

He said most of the complaints came from rural areas of Iqbal Town and Aziz Bhatti Town.

He said four teams comprising three people each have been formed to kill stray dogs. Some dogs are shot dead while others are fed poisoned meat. On Monday (November 19) alone, 234 dogs were shot in Shalamar and Aziz Bhatti towns. Stray dogs in parts of Iqbal and Samnabad Towns have also been killed.


Zaman said the stray dog population was high in Hadiara village in the Aziz Bhatti Town and most of the complaints had been received from there. The campaign will run for another week.



Muhammad Usman, president of the Animal Safety Organisation Pakistan, said he had written a letter to CM Shahbaz Sharif recommending that stray dogs be vaccinated rather than killed.

He said he had recommended that shelter homes be built for stray animals.

Usman said the government had already killed nearly 900 dogs in Multan over the last two weeks. “An injection can kill rabies germs in a dog… after that a dog attack is no longer lethal,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2012.
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