(IN) Man bites dog

[Guest guest]

Dear Ms Khazvini,

Thanks for writing. The attached article on

the stray dog situation in Bangalore was written by my colleague Varuna

Verma. I made a small contribution. I would be interested to know if the

reporting has been responsible or irresponsible.

Best wishes and kind regards,

 

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070318/asp/7days/story_7521380.asp

Man bites dog

Bangalore's massive month-long dog hunt has raised an uproar. *Varuna Verma*

looks at whether the city's municipal body went about it the right way

DOG DAYS IN BANGALORE ( from top): A street dog being dragged with a metal wire

and loaded on to a truck; the killings in Mandya; stray dogs stare out of their

cramped cages

Strays in Metros

*Calcutta *60,000

*Bangalore* 70,000

*Delhi *500,000

 

The tip-off came late last Sunday night. " A friend called to inform us that

dogs were being captured and killed in Mandya, " says Savitha Nagabhushan, a

Bangalore-based animal activist. The rest of the night was spent arranging

for a video camera, tapes and a taxi. Nagabhushan left for Mandya — a small

town 120 km south of Bangalore — with two colleagues at dawn the next day.

 

In Mandya, the trio roamed the town searching for municipal trucks carrying

dogs. " We finally spotted a truck standing in an isolated by-lane. It was

loaded with dead dogs, " recalls Nagabhushan.

 

Nagabhushan posed as a canine-hater and asked the municipal workers if she

could see how the dogs were caught and killed. The activists were stunned by

what they saw. " The dogs were caught with a metal wire. Then cyanide was

injected into their stomach or heart, depending on how much the dogs

resisted, " says Nagabhushan. No attempt was made to find out if the dog was

ferocious or friendly. " The dog-catcher said he was paid per dog corpse he

brought, " says Nagabhushan.

 

Back in Bangalore, the sting operation's video tapes created an uproar.

Governor T.N. Chaturvedi demanded an explanation. Bangalore's massive

month-long dog hunt, launched by the city municipal body, the Bruhat

Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), was also called off indefinitely. But

meanwhile, the movement against the culling of dogs had spread to other

areas.

 

In Delhi, a rally was held at the India Gate on Friday, and mobile text

messages are being sent to scores of people, urging them to join the

movement against the culling. " We have been told that the Delhi government

may do something similar to 'sanitise' the city before the 2010 Commonwealth

Games, " says one activist who has been spending sleepless nights in Delhi,

mustering opposition to the Karnataka action.

 

Mandya's canine-killing drive was the outcome of a mass anti-dog hysteria

that spread across Karnataka in the last month. In January this year, an

eight-year-old girl was killed by a pack of dogs when she was playing

outside her house in Bangalore's Chandra Layout locality. The incident sent

ripples of terror across the city.

 

A repeat killing happened within a month. In February, a four-year-old boy

was mauled to death by some 15 dogs while he was playing hide-and-seek with

friends in an open ground near his BEML Colony house. Suddenly, dogs became

man's worst enemy in Bangalore .

 

When the blame game began, the city municipal corporation came in the line

of fire. Under pressure to do something, the BBMP began to randomly round up

dogs across the city. Many were killed. " In five days, starting February 3,

the BBMP caught 1,297 dogs. Of these, 229 ferocious dogs were put to sleep, "

says L.T. Gayathri, chief health officer, BBMP. The municipal body also set

up a dog helpline, which has received 2,000 calls reporting cases of dog

menace so far.

 

BBMP's 'Operation dog-hunt' left animal activists horrified. " Metal wires

were used to catch dogs. This caused injuries to the animals. The dogs were

packed into small, claustrophobic cages. They were kept without food at

times, " says R.M. Kharb, chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). The

AWBI threatened to sue the BBMP commissioner, K. Jairaj.

 

Kharb says the BBMP's dog-catching drive was a knee-jerk reaction to two

deaths. " Randomly rounding up and killing stray canines was only a way to

control the dog-hate hysteria building across Karnataka. Nobody got to the

bottom of the problem, " says Kharb.

 

The stray dog population of Bangalore was estimated to be 56,000, according

to a Karnataka animal husbandry department survey conducted in 2003. " This

has probably gone up to 70,000, due to the growth in size and human

habitation of the city, " says Suparna Ganguly, vice president, Compassion

Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA), a city-based animal welfare NGO. In

comparison, Delhi has a stray dog population of five lakh, Mumbai two lakh

and Calcutta has 60,000 street dogs.

 

But Bangalore's sudden growth has seen an overall infrastructure collapse in

the city. Till November last year, the city had no garbage landfill sites.

Moreover, Bangalore's garbage generation increased from 840 gm per capita in

1994 to 2.4 kg per capita in 2006. " The city has no solid waste management

policy. Garbage is dumped on empty land, in lakes and along highways, " says

Kharb. Stray dogs thrive on garbage. " They get a steady supply of food there

and then breed and form packs, " says Kharb. And animals moving in packs can

get aggressive.

 

Kharb believes India is paying the price for not implementing the

decade-and-a-half-old World Health Organisation (WHO)-prescribed dog control

guidelines. The guidelines — published by the WHO in 1990, along with the

World Society for Protection of Animals — say that killing of stray dogs has

never worked to control canine population. " The twin solutions prescribed

are an aggressive animal birth control (ABC) programme and solid waste

management, " says Kharb.

 

The animal birth control programme was launched in Bangalore in 2003, but

only in areas under the BBMP. " The colonies where the two children were

killed by stray dogs lie outside the jurisdiction of the city municipal

corporation. The ABC programme was not operational here, " says BBMP health

officer Gayathri.

 

But dogs don't recognise municipal boundaries. " There's no point controlling

the dog population in one area and letting them thrive in the neighbourhood.

If you remove dogs from territory A, the ones from territory B will move

in, " says Hiranmay Karlekar, consultant editor, *The Pioneer*, New Delhi,

and an animal enthusiast.

 

But with no immediate solutions in sight, the conflict continues. The

activists are out on the streets. But Bangalore's municipal body, clearly,

doesn't believe in letting sleeping dogs lie.

 

 

 

 

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

devika khazvini <copycatt

17 Mar 2007 08:59:19 -0700

Re:Journalists in Delhi protest dog killings in Bangalore

aapn

 

 

 

I do not feel that people have been accusing the ENTIRE press force of

irresponsibility. Just those guilty of it.

One is so heartened to read of the candlelight procession in Delhi, but then

- back to Square One - why was it not extensively covered by the press?

That's the point. The photographs of the dead child and the most damning

article possible is in India Today, for all to see and exclaim over, but not

enough people are brave enough to give equal coverage to the other

side....if the press is against it, please let them use media space to cover

the issue with courage and clarity (the HT editorial, for example).

 

Just a point of view,

 

Devika