The recommendation of the Commissioner of Brihan Mumbai to kill stray dogs as a long-term solution has boosted the spirits of associations trying to keep cities stray-dog-free.

This solution for the perennial stray-dog problem was propagated by Mahatma Gandhi. A proponent of ahimsa, Gandhi faced severe criticism, when he approved of a mill owner — Ambalal Sarabhai — killing 60 stray dogs in Ahmedabad.

Gandhiji commented in Young India: “A roving dog without an owner is a danger to society and a swarm of them is a menace to its very existence. If we want to keep dogs in towns or villages in a decent manner, no dog should be suffered to wander. But can we take individual charge of these roving dogs? Can we have a pinjrapole (home for animals) for them? If both these things are impossible then there seems to me no alternative except to kill them”.

Among the organisations that have supported the elimination of stray dogs are National Institute of Communicable Diseases,  Independent Commission of Health in India, Association for Prevention & Control of Rabies in India and the Task Force of Health in Karnataka, which has stated that interference from animal welfare organisations has resulted in dangerous dogs wandering the streets and these organisations should be held responsible for the consequences.

Vatsala Dhananjay, who co-founded the Stray Dog Free Bangalore [SDFB], says: “The rate of growth of stray dogs is so fast, that a pair can procreate 60,000 dogs in a lifetime of about seven years. Since urban dogs have no predators, man has to cull their population humanely”.

Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, in a study in 2001, stated that there were two lakh stray dogs and 80,000 pet dogs. Besides a nuisance, dog bites have become a “public health” problem because more than two per cent of the population in Bangalore gets bitten. 53.4 per cent of the bites happen on the streets. In more than 70 per cent of the cases, stray dogs were involved. Among the victims, children were affected more.

Can we allow little innocent children to be prey, asks co-founder of SDFB, Diana Bharucha, who has been attacked thrice, and bitten twice: “Why is so much noise made about killing of stray dogs, which are a danger, while all are silent on the slaughter of cows and goats?”

Diana opines that the six-year-old ABC Programme does not indicate that the numbers of stray dogs is reducing. “Only 10 per cent of dogs are sterilised. Moreover to keep them rabies-free they need to be revaccinated every 11 months. There is no guarantee that a sterilised dog won’t bite, and there is no system to identify a rabid or a ferocious dog.”

Vatsala points out that while the BMP has the statutory duty to keep the streets free of stray dogs; it has lost control over the process. “Dog catching vans, drivers, dog catchers, petrol allowance have all been sub-contracted to animal welfare groups, who have hijacked the civic duty of the BMP.”

SDFB quotes Meritt Clinton, editor, Animal People: “Animal welfare organisations should not be undertaking animal control, as they did in the US more than 100 years ago and greatly retarded progress. This (dog control) is a civic service, like providing police and fire protection, and should be funded and administered in the same manner”.