Hunting them down: Civic agencies kill stray dogs with guns, poison

Activists say these drives are a gross violation of animal rights, harmful to environment.

KARACHI: If we go by Mahatma Gandhi's quote on judging the greatness of a nation by the way it treats its animals, Pakistan's moral progress (or lack thereof) will hardly be surprising.

"The civic agencies are using guns and poisonous capsules to kill stray dogs, which is not only a gross violation of animal rights but also harmful to the environment," animal rights campaigner Syed Mustafa Ali told The Express Tribune.

He claimed that the Clifton Cantonment Board and the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) last week started a rigorous campaign in which they were openly shooting stray dogs.

"There are other safe options — the dogs can be relocated to unpopulated areas, such as the highway or Kutta Island," Ali remarked.

"In a country where justice for even humans is hard to come by, animal rights are seen as a somewhat 'Western' concept," explained Dr Muhammad Ali Ayaz, an epidemiologist and researcher. "We must remember, however, that this brutality against dogs, cats and other animals affects the ecology and damages biodiversity."

He suggested neutering as a way to stop the reproduction and overpopulation of strays. "There are other solutions, such as evacuation and relocation; while this will not help the environment, it would at least put a stop to such cruelty."

However, CBC chief sanitary inspector Shabir Hussain said the drive against stray dogs, a long-running campaign by the board, will continue in the interests of the residents.

"Whenever we receive complaints about the large number of stray dogs, we intensify our drive," he said. "We also employ methods such as shooting and poisoning them since these are included in the Cantonment act."

Hussain explained that the method they used depended on where the dogs were: if they were in open spaces, the officials shot the dogs because they were difficult to catch, but in small, closed areas, they used poison to avoid injuring residents.

"The population of stray dogs has reached thousands in several areas and we have received dozens of complaints about dog bites," a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation spokesperson added. "If any NGOs want to relocate these strays, we have no objections."

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2015.