Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
Kill all stray dogs, says Mumbai municipal chief
Mumbai:
All stray dogs should be killed as a long-term solution, Brihan Mumbai Corporation chief Jayraj Pathak has said.
The BMC in fact plans to put forth a proposal to the High Court and then the Supreme Court on the issue.
According to unofficial figures Mumbai has around 2 lakh stray dogs.
Drawing a comparison to Singapore, Jayraj Pathak said in order to get rid of the stray dog problem once and for all, stray dogs should be killed as done in Singapore. He further added that killing of stray dogs is not a new exercise since dogs were killed in Mumbai from 1983 to 1994.
"We should kill stray dogs as a long term solution. We will be putting forth a proposal to the high court and then to the Supreme Court,” said Pathak.
However, the move is likely to create a stir among the animal rights activists who slam killing of the stray animals as ‘inhuman’.
The effectiveness of such mass culling has also been questioned time and again, since mostly such exercises have failed in controlling the dog stray population.
“Killing dogs is not the solution to control their population. A sterilization programme is the only way to tackle the stray dog numbers. Killing them is an inhuman practice and in fact turns a failure when it comes to controlling their population on a long-term basis,” Editor of The Pioneer Chandan Mitra said.
The Municipal authorities in Bangalore had two months back carried on a similar culling programme, which invited much criticism from the animal rights activists. Footage of dogs beaten to death, buried alive, electrocuted and worst, left with slit throat was aired by various TV channels, which gave way to a campaign against culling by animal lovers.
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