Kerala orders dog purge

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:

 

 

Kerala orders dog purge

 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM--Kerala state minister for local

self-government Paloli Mohammed Kutty less than 10 days before the

end of April 2007 " directed the heads of local self-government

institutions to take effective steps to end the stray dog menace

before May, " The Hindu reported on April 22.

The order followed a Kerala High Court ruling that local

governments have the authority to kill dogs to end a perceived threat

to public health and safety, despite the decade-old national policy,

never fully implemented, favoring Animal Birth Control.

Kerala, officially 25% Islam and 19% Christian, also with a

strong Communist party, is among just two states of India where

cattle slaughter is legal, has a large cattle export industry, and

is perhaps the only state where resisting mainstream Hindu cultural

dominance has political currency.

Cattle slaughter and animal sacrifice were already political

flashpoints in Kerala long before the advent of ABC, which soon

became a comparable target.

Political exploitation of cultural divides appeared evident

in the rhetoric on March 30, 2007, as the Thiruvananthapuram

municipal corporation council heatedly rejected a recommendation from

People for Animals founder Maneka Gandhi that the city should back a

four-year-old ABC program conducted by Animal Rights Kerala.

Mrs. Gandhi, who was federal minister for animal welfare

under the Hindu nationalistist Bharatijia Janata party, alleged that

killing dogs is in violation of the federal Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals Act, a contention soon afterward rejected by the Kerala High

Court.

Mrs. Gandhi " also alleged that a senior Thiruvanathapuram

official was intimidating animal welfare groups opposing the

slaughter, " reported The Hindu, and " demanded that the official in

charge of the program be shifted. "

Continued The Hindu, " Welfare standing committee chairman

Rajendra Das alleged that People for Animals and Animal Rights Kerala

have links with companies manufacturing anti-rabies vaccine.

Poojappura councillor Maheswaran Nair called for subjecting their

accounts to audit. Mayor C. Jayan Babu said there was no question of

signing an agreement with ARK, which is facing criminal charges for

assaulting corporation officials, " after founder Avis Lyons on

February 10, 2007 confronted dogcatchers who were impounding

vaccinated and sterilized dogs.

Lyons in September 2006 trained 25 dogcatchers to participate

in a purported Thiruvanathapuram municipal ABC program, but the

program never started.

Instead, the dogcatchers " used all the information we had

given them to go out and kill all the dogs in Thiruvanathapuram and

surrounding areas, including our sterilized dogs, " Lyons alleges.

Paid per dog caught, the catchers subsequently hired

themselves out to catch and kill dogs in other cities, including

Bangalore.

Ironically, vaccinating street dogs to eradicate the rabies

reservoir is much less profitable for vaccine makers than selling

post-exposure vaccine for use in treating humans who are bitten.

Pointed out Compassion Crusaders Trust founder Debasis

Chakrabarti, during a similar debate in Kolkata, " Since it costs

only 25 rupees to vaccinate a stray dog against rabies, compared

with 1,500 rupees to vaccinate a human, it is more advisable for the

sake of humans to spend the money on vaccinating dogs. "

 

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

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Fax: 360-579-2575

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Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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