Needed: better urban planning, not mass slaughter of dogs

ANDanyone traveling through Kerala these days is likely to see banners and posters at many junctions displaying gruesome images of children bitten by dogs and calling for the mass culling of street dogs. The media hosted heated debates where everyone from ordinary people in the streets to political heavyweights weighed in on the need for mass culling to rid the state of what everyone seems to have concluded was a public menace. Amidst the commotion, there are also the fragile voices of Gandhians and animal lovers trying to remind the public that a dog is man’s best friend and the reasons for such a massive increase in the street dog population have not been fully understood. There is a staggering level of ignorance of this issue among the public.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) standards of 2003, worldwide, one person dies of rabies every 30 minutes and one dog bite occurs every two seconds. India has the lion’s share of deaths due to rabies. However, deaths from rabies are relatively uncommon in Kerala, thanks to intensive post-exposure vaccination.

In India, almost every rabies death is due to a dog bite. Rabies is a disease of dogs and is spread to other species, including humans, only through bites. The rabies virus normally remains in the host for up to 90 or 95 days. The saliva of a rabid dog carries the virus for 4-5 days before symptoms appear and for 4-5 days after which it dies. “Accidental infection” is possible if an animal infected with rabies licks a person. Rabies can appear in both “dumb” and “rabid” forms. The dumb form is when dogs hide in some dark corner but rarely bite unless provoked. The rabid form is when dogs that are roaming aimlessly bite people but after provocation.

There is a widespread belief that all dogs found in public places are susceptible to rabies and that domestic dogs are safe. To that extent, a domestic dog that dies of silent rabies may go unnoticed; and a stray dog ​​barking at a citizen can be declared rabid and killed. In the prevailing uncertainty in India, health professionals are forced to advise post-exposure prophylaxis (called vaccination or PEP) in cases of contact with a dog or cat. In case of delayed medical care, it may be necessary to inject immunoglobulin around the wound, which costs up to Rs 30,000. In addition to the cost, loss of man-hours and strain on public funds, the immediate distress to the victim and his family is unbearable.

The problem of an unmanageable population of street dogs and the resulting conflict between people and animals in the urban environment should be seen not only as a social issue, but also as a development challenge. The spike in dog populations in many urban areas in the country has to do with sloppy urban planning and the failure of local and state governments to implement an effective waste management system. When this is compounded by weak civic sense, the problem can spiral out of control and create a psychosis of fear among the people.

The haphazard way in which civic associations have dealt with the problem is reflected in their failure to implement the Dog Code. Several civic bodies have formed implementation committees as mentioned in rule 4 or followed the regulation for stray dogs as contained in rules 5 and 10. None of the parties concerned have bothered to present their views to the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) or the Kerala State Animal Welfare Board.

This is a multifactorial problem that is inseparable from problems related to disease ecology; movement of wild, feral and stray animals; and changing community behavior patterns, especially with changing lifestyles and rampant urbanization. Breeding season, age and gender have a significant effect on the behavior of stray dogs. Solid waste accumulates due to poor and inefficient waste disposal and therefore street dogs become an effective scavenging agency and act as a control on rodent population growth. If there was a mass culling of street dogs, there would be a natural increase in their population.

In Kerala, and perhaps most other places in India, there has been no attempt to address the growing street dog population as a complex development challenge that requires a multidimensional approach. While the role of veterinary professionals is clearly established, the role of civic authorities and political leadership at local and wider levels needs to be defined with greater clarity. While it may be necessary to spend, as contemplated in Rules 5 and 10, it should generally be accepted that spending alone would not solve the problem.

The main cause of the problem – the uncontrolled accumulation of municipal waste in public spaces – should be addressed at the level of local governments. At the same time, state authorities should initiate steps to castrate the dog population so that their presence on the streets does not create panic among the public and public voices do not arise after mass culling. The timeless bond between dogs and humans cannot be sacrificed on the altar of social ignorance and administrative inefficiency.

(The author is the Founder-Secretary of the Veterinary Council of India and Past President of the Veterinary Surgical Society of India.)

Published – October 4, 2015 0:47 AM IST