Mauled by dogs

TWO fatal attacks by stray dogs in a week at Passan Kadim village in Kapurthala district of Punjab exemplify the complete lack of sincerity of civic bodies across the state in keeping cities and towns clean as well as safe. That such incidents — pedestrians becoming victims of assaults and canines turning man-eaters due to various reasons — are regularly reported across the country is distressing and has spread fear and insecurity among residents of localities abounding with packs of stray dogs.

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It calls for a review of the policies so as to effectively mitigate the conditions that trigger a proliferation of stray dogs and make some of them turn killers. Rapid urbanisation, inefficient waste disposal and poorly enforced animal control measures are largely to blame for the sorry state of affairs. The ill-maintained carcass dumping yard (hadda rori) at Passan Kadim is believed to have led the strays to become feral scavengers.

The sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs and shelter and adoption programmes are among the compassionate solutions that strike a balance between ensuring public safety and respecting animal rights. However, there seem to be gaps in the implementation of these policies. Technology should be leveraged to execute the plans, with the stray dogs being monitored with GPS tracking collars. Efficacious strategies can then be devised to address the problem. If all else fails and the aggressive dogs continue to imperil human lives, it would not be wrong to consider the contentious option of culling the killers. The frequent fatal attacks on children and adults, especially the elderly, by dogs warrant decisive action.