Fwd: Newindpress on Sunday: Don't Bite the Dog... by Nanditha Krishna

[Guest guest]

It is very informative article.

As per Indian ABC Rules 2001:The Local Bodies(MCs,Panchyats etc) have to

Implement and make arrangements to transport,identify and to provide

infrastructure/instruments etc.AH Deptt.Has to provide Technical services for

Surgeries and AWOs/NGOs has to supervise and manage the shelters.But onus of

carrying out ABC is put upon AWOs and Poor Dogs suffer.

Dr.Sandeep K.Jain

 

asia for animals <afa2007 wrote:

Dear friends,

 

This is from today's New Indian Express.

Sorry, I am unable to get the photo in but you can go to the link shown.

 

The killing was stopped in Mysore and Bangalore from yesterday but

there is a move to kill dogs in Chitradurga in Karnataka.

 

It is due to very strong opposition from HE Governor Chaturvedi of Karnataka

that the carnage has been halted.

 

It has been a terrifying example of how ill-informed media and corrupt and

inept public officials can come together to start a slaughter of the innocents.

Let us hope this never happens again. In the meantime, concerned citizens are

planning to take legal action against those (ir)responsible officials and

journalists directly concerned with the incidents.

 

S. Chinny Krishna

Blue Cross of India

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Kim Bartlett < ANPEOPLE

Mar 11, 2007 12:00 PM

Newindpress on Sunday: Don't Bite the Dog... by Nanditha Krishna

chinnykrishna

Cc: nankrish <nankrishna >

 

 

http://newindpress.com/Sunday/colItems.asp?ID=SEV20070308084808

3/11/07

Columns by Nanditha Krishna

 

 

Don't bite the dog...

 

The recent death of a child from a dog attack is both shocking and tragic. It is

inexcusable that we cannot prevent an avoidable tragedy. Governments immediately

shift the blame on the law, which advocates Animal Birth Control (ABC) rather

than killing, on NGOs who do not sterilise and vaccinate enough dogs, and so on.

Yet no government will admit that poor governance is responsible for the child's

death.

 

Waste dumps are excellent breeding sites for a variety of wildlife, including

rats, flies, mosquitoes, disease-carrying bacteria and dogs. Governments must

manage solid waste. Every city has a suburban waste dump which breeds disease.

This time the problem was a dog. Next time, it may be plague borne by invisible

rats. Stray dogs are a rare sight in the West because there are no visible

garbage dumps.

 

Illegal meat and broiler chicken shops abound everywhere in India. " Fresh

meat/chicken sold here " is a common sign on boards, with live animals beneath,

to be slaughtered before the buyer, leaving a trail of blood and bones. Which

dog would turn down a juicy morsel? But the authorities turn a blind (and

corrupt) eye. The common factor in the recent incidents of dog attacks was the

slaughter house, with illegal dumping yards at the sites of the attacks.

 

Governments expect NGOs to solve the problem of stray dogs. NGOs must catch,

spay/neuter and vaccinate ALL the stray dogs in India. If so, what are

governments for? According to the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), the

number of NGOs working in the field of animal welfare is 2,500, out of which

about 100 are doing ABC. The rest run goshalas. The annual budget of the AWBI is

about Rs 10 crores, out of which a fraction is available for ABC, an amount

which must be shared by NGOs from all over India. State governments have

abdicated their responsibility by putting the burden of controlling the dog

population on NGOs, threatening to kill dogs instead. To prevent the cruelty

involved in killing (electrocution or being beaten to death), NGOs have accepted

this unfair responsibility and taken over the government's duties. Why quiz the

CUPA ****representative on the reason why ABC had not yet reached the Bangalore

suburb? The answer was known: there is no NGO there.

 

NGOs cannot be an alternative to governance. NGOs can only supplement official

efforts, particularly at grass-root levels. What would happen in North Indian

towns where NGOs are as rare or as corrupt as the government? State governments

must take up ABC on a war footing and provide funds if the dog population is to

be controlled. Instead, the Commissioner, ****BBMP, promises to catch and kill

" ferocious dogs and leaders of dog packs " . Tragically, only the docile, friendly

dogs will be caught and killed.

 

After years of killing dogs, only to see their population increase, World Health

Organization (WHO) made some obvious and important discoveries: that the

population of dogs was directly proportionate to the food available, meaning

that no rubbish heaps and slaughter-house wastes means no dogs; that killing

dogs leaves a vacuum, to be filled by more dogs who breed and increase the

population; that the only way to control dog populations and rabies is by

sterilising and vaccinating the animals and returning them to their home

territories. Dogs are territorial animals and will not permit the entry of an

intruder. Sterilisation makes them docile, since the hormonal urge to mate, and

its consequent ferocity, is missing. Chennai and San Francisco saw the first

successful implementation of ABC.

 

In The State of Animals (2005) edited by Deborah J. Salem and Andrew N Rowan,

" In Delhi, a concerted effort at dog removal killed a third of the stray dogs,

with no reduction in dog population. " In the early 1970s, the stray dog

population in Chennai was so high that, in spite of killing several thousand

dogs a year (30,000 dogs in 1995 alone) - resulting in a thriving industry of

dog leather bags, footwear and wallets - the population went up geometrically.

Mysore is killing dogs on a mass scale, yet the dog population keeps increasing.

 

Every city and village has a veterinary hospital with under-worked doctors, most

of who receive a full day's salary, work for a few hours and take off the rest

of the day for private practice. They should be made to sterilise dogs.

Unfortunately, AWBI funds are insufficient. Every city, town and village needs

to take up ABC simultaneously. In their paper Rabies and Rabies-related viruses,

Florence Cliquet and E Picard-Meyer have observed that the ABC programme in

India, if conducted regularly, " should lead to a stabilisation of the stray dog

population within five to seven years. "

 

In Chennai, the incidence of rabies went down from 120 in 1996, when a

full-scale ABC programme was launched, to 5 in 2003 and 2004. Today the rabies

cases are limited to those brought in from rural areas. What 100 years of

killing (1896-1996) could not achieve, ten years of ABC has. In Jaipur and

Kalimpong, the number of rabies cases declined from 10 in 1999 and 2000 to nil

since 2001-2002. The success of ABC in these cities means it does work.

 

Some state governments and municipalities have taken a pro-active role. About

45,000 dogs were sterilised in Ahmedabad municipality in the last year - the

largest number in the country. In Tamil Nadu, the Urban Development Ministry has

instructed all municipalities to carry out ABC on a war footing and to use their

own funds. The money spent by municipalities to catch and kill dogs should be

used for ABC.

 

Dog breeding must be regulated. Anyone with a pedigreed male and female of the

same species starts breeding dogs. If he has a dog of only one sex, he rents it

out for breeding. This goes on in rich homes and poor huts, for it promises a

lucrative, tax-free income with minimal investment. There is no registration of

breeders or dossier of puppies born. When the animals can no longer breed, they

are abandoned on the streets, where they have to scrounge for food in the

garbage. The stray dogs of Ooty include beautiful Alsatians and other prized

breeds abandoned by breeders. Rats, similarly, are bred for sale to

laboratories. Wait for the next plague.

 

As a mother and a human being, my heart goes out to the parents of the dead

children. But let us not take knee-jerk reactions. Governments must find

sustainable scientific solutions, and ABC has proven to be successful in

controlling dog populations and rabies, if carried out properly. Don't bite the

dog to cover up poor governance.

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

 

--

The information contained in this message may be confidential and is for the

intended adressee only. If you are not the intended addressee, please notify the

sender immediately and delete this message permanently. Thanks.

 

 

Dr.Sandeep K.Jain

 

 

Here’s a new way to find what you're looking for - Answers