PANJIM: The stray dog menace continues to haunt the State and its citizens, with canines exhibiting mixed behaviour; be it seeking human affection to asserting territorial dominance. Incidents of canines attacking people have ignited a discussion among citizens, who have called for a comprehensive solution to the issue by implementing the ‘Animal Birth Control Scheme’.
This discussion has intensified after the tragic death of Parag Desai, Director of Wagh Bhakri, one of India's leading tea companies, in Ahmedabad, while trying to escape a pack of stray dogs, on Sunday evening.
Likening the stray dog menace to problems like garbage and road accidents, Environmental activist Avinash Tavares attributed the same to years of government and public negligence and called for a comprehensive solution.
“With regards to dog attacks on certain individuals, we have to look at the problem and solve it holistically. This issue is similar to garbage and road accidents, which have been created over years of neglect and lack of responsibility from the government and the people,” said Tavares.
Emphasising that a key step towards resolving the issue involves the sterilisation of not only street dogs but also pet dogs, he said, “Since the canine population is growing, dogs have to survive by defending their territory and food sources. Sometimes they do attack humans, although the number of dogs attacking humans is barely less than five per cent, most dogs are very shy and run away when humans are around,” he added.
He stressed the need to implement the ‘Animal Birth Control Scheme’ funded by the State government and overseen by panchayats.
“If the villagers are concerned about the issue of stray dogs, they should approach the gram sabha and pressure the panch members to pass this resolution, identify land and sign a MoU with an NGO, this scheme can be implemented and the population of dogs can be brought under control. This should also be done to pet dogs because people abandon puppies in markets and other areas even though the local dogs are sterilised. Culling is not the answer,” said Tavares.
Echoing Tavares’ views, Advocate Shashank Narvekar called for shifting responsibility for sterilisation from private agencies to municipalities.
He suggested that municipalities should establish well-maintained dog pounds as a means to manage the stray dog population.
Narvekar emphasised the need for monitoring agencies, including animal rights activists and government officials, to ensure humane treatment of animals in these facilities.
“A monitoring committee should be established for a dog pound since you do not need a big area. The problem is stray animals are not being given attention that’s why it’s happening, if you give dogs attention then the number will reduce,” said Narvekar adding that stray dogs require attention and responsible management, rather than resorting to culling as a solution.
However, Suryakant Chodankar said that sometimes dogs chase vehicles or people, causing fear and leading to accidents.
He stressed the need to vaccinate these dogs to prevent the spread of infections and diseases. Emphasising the need for government action in addressing these issues, Chodankar said, “Dogs run behind bikes and the rider gets scared and loses control of the vehicle resulting in accidents. Some unvaccinated dogs even bite people and could spread life threatening diseases. So the government should do something about this issue.”