This story is from July 29, 2015

Waste management key to address stray dog menace

The stray dog menace is increasing even as civic authorities are in a quandary as to how should they tackle the issue.
Waste management key to address stray dog menace
KANNUR: The stray dog menace is increasing even as civic authorities are in a quandary as to how should they tackle the issue.
As per estimates, there are over 2.6 lakh stray dogs in the state and it is a tough task to implement any effective measure to prevent the increasing population, which is causing threat to human life in many places.
“It is a fact that street dog menace is very serious in many places in the district, and Kannur municipality is not an exception, though we have brought down the threat considerably through waste management,” said Kannur municipal vice chairman T O Mohanan.

The stray dogs throng the towns to feed on waste, including the waste from the hospitals and butcher shops. However, despite knowing this, the authorities fail to solve this issue in many places and such wastes can be seen dumped in many places attracting dogs.
“But people should first realize the gravity of the crime they commit by irresponsibly throwing the wastes in public places instead of properly disposing them off,” said Thaliparamba municipal vice chairman Muraleedharan Komath, who added that the municipality has set aside a fund of Rs three lakh in the budget for the current financial year for animal birth control in the municipality.
Despite this, in many places of the municipality there are hundreds of stray dogs and the authorities are finding it tough to do anything seriously, as they do not have the right to kill stray dogs, except the mad dogs.

“If we kill ordinary stray dogs and certify them as mad dogs, the veterinary doctor who issued the certificate would also be in soup, and hence we are unable to do so,” said the vice chairman. “Last year when we killed 65, there was huge controversy, and hence we have kept the activity on hold this time.”
On the other hand, even if the civic bodies are ready to kill the dogs by hook or crook, there are not many people willing to kill them because of the poor payment, according to authorities. While the government has sanctioned only Rs 75 to kill a dog, the people who do it demand at east Rs 300 to Rs 350.
“Last year we collected the additional amount from the councillors and killed around 50 but then there was the problem of burying them, as people don’t want the dogs to be buried anywhere near their locality,” said Muraleedharan. “When the law is against killing of stray dogs, and also there is no money to kill them, then we are helpless in tackling the issue.”
Added to this is the scarcity of Anti Rabies Serum (ARS). Though the health authorities claim that there is sufficient stock of the serum, there are complaints that it is not available in many hospitals, and the people have to rush to Kozhikode medical college or spend huge amounts at the private hospitals.
In this condition, if the authorities fail to pragmatically address the issue, the street dog menace would pose a headache to the authorities and its repercussion might reflect in the forthcoming local body elections, too.
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