Social Worker from Hope Town Raises Concern Before Lt. Governor, Demands a Planned Solution
Port Blair, Jan 31: Social worker, VD Leju (LG Commendation Awardee for Social Work) in a letter to the Hon’ble Lt. Governor has raised the issue of rising stray dog menace in various parts of the islands. In the letter, the Social Worker mentioned that of late, there has been a sudden increase in cases of attack by dogs on livestock besides attack on humans too.
There have been numerous cases of free-ranging canines attacking pedestrians and motorists besides causing financial loss to people by killing goats, ducks and hens. Most of the cases go unreported as they are treated as isolated incidents!
In a very recent incident at Azad Nagar, Stewart Gunj that went viral on social media, the stray dogs killed more than a dozen hens. Many more incidents of the same nature are being reported frequently nowadays throughout our islands. Sporadic incidents of dog attack on humans too keep coming frequently from various parts of the islands. Children have come under attack of the dogs while they were playing near their houses and even while returning from their schools and tuition classes.
People feel insecure to go on Morning-walk or Evening-walk as there would always be a pack of 8 to 10 or more dogs wandering on the roads. People are scared to move freely as the dogs suddenly become ferocious and chase people. Cyclists and two-wheeler riders are more at risk during evening and night hours. The stray dogs bark and chase motorists. Many accidents have happened due to this in many parts of our islands. “We don’t want the dogs to be harmed but at the same time people should not feel insecure due to unwanted presence of stray dogs in their localities either”, Leju mentioned.
As a suggestion, the Social Worker said that the Veterinary Department should undertake a periodic census of these dogs to monitor the growth of their population. The AH&VS need to implement Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme in these islands on war footing. The only way to control their population is ABC. And it has to be a continuous process as any break in the programme would nullify the very purpose of the programme. An intensive sterilization drive for stray dogs is also the need of the hour. A field-level survey & census may be taken up at the earliest. Without proper data no policy can be adopted. Sterilization of street dogs is a responsibility that has not been taken seriously by the authorities, because of which the stray dog menace has grown out of proportion today.
The menace of stray dogs cannot be solved by killing the dogs and to overcome the issue a scientific solution must be sought which need to be formulated by the authorities concerned as the issue has become quite serious and affecting the lives of the people in these islands. It is important to remember that beating, poisoning and tying up dogs on the streets will not solve this problem. Rather indulging in such acts is unacceptable. Stray dogs have the right to food and citizens have the right to feed. But our responsibility with regard to stray dogs doesn't end by just feeding them leftovers.
Confronting a pack of dogs has become quite dangerous nowadays as most of these street dogs behave ferociously thereby posing danger to the lives of the people. The authorities should identify the ferocious dogs and shift them to shelter homes immediately. For this purpose, full-fledged rehabilitation centres and shelter homes for animals may be established at a regional level under the supervision of local self-government bodies to rehabilitate stray animals, Some solution has to be found for the stray dog menace by any means.
Instead of finding a permanent solution, the authorities reportedly seem to be interested in shifting responsibility on to others' shoulders by merely deporting the dogs from municipal area to rural areas. In such case there will be more fights for territory and resources like food, water and shelter. The unassuming victim of these fights can be people at times.
Leju said that the Administration needs to implement a planned solution on the prevalent issue. Necessary schemes need to be formulated and implemented in a phase-wise manner. For this, schemes may be implemented by using the infrastructure of hospitals under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services by appointing veterinary doctors, dog catchers and attendants on contract basis.