After the dog chase, the rat race
Impounding is not the solution, says international NGO
17-09-2008 Kuensel Newspaper, Bhutan
17 September, 2008 - Impounding stray dogs is not the solution to Bhutan’s dog problems and it should be permanently stopped, according to an international non-government organisation, the Humane International Society (HIS). HIS, who studied the dog situation in Paro and Thimphu, said that the absence of dogs in some areas, because of impounding, had now created a perfect situation for the other species like rats to take over.
“The plague in Surat in India happened after all the dogs were killed. The dogs controlled the rat population by keeping them away from garbage piles,” said Ugyen Choden of Bhutan Foundation, who worked with HIS.
IT’S NOT A DOG’S LIFE –
Pup being eaten alive at the
Memelakha pound
The report stated that it was critical to have a minimum number of dogs on the streets to maintain the balance of food chain and prevent the takeover by other less friendly species. “Bhutan’s dog problem was related to the way in which we disposed of our garbage, which is actually helping to increase our dog population as dogs breed more when there are more sources of food,” said Ugyen Choden.
The report also stated that, so far, the ‘peopl-friendly’ dogs had been picked up and aggressive dogs had taken their places from other areas. “Many dogs, that had escaped from pounds, have now become suspicious of humans and started forming new packs in towns,” stated the report.
HIS claimed that these packs would lead to higher bite incidents, which could prove fatal, especially in cases of mauling children. It also stated that new dogs were in the process of claiming territories left vacant by the ones impounded, creating chances for higher bite rates and barking. “Dogs are territorial animals and can get aggressive and insecure while moving into a new areas,” said Ugyen Choden.
Meanwhile, HIS, after visiting various pounds, has described them as “concentration camps where the dogs are destined for a slow and painful death”.
When Kuensel visited the Memelakha dog pound in Thimphu, little puppies were being snatched away from their mothers laps by bigger dogs who chewed them alive. One puppy had been stuck for days in a water pot with its lower body skin missing and muscles damaged.
The dog pound at Memelakha is packed to capacity with around a 1,000 sick, malnourished and also dying dogs. The dog catching had intensified in the last month with around 30 dogs being caught in a day.
City Corporation officials said that the average dog death rate was 1-2 dogs a day. Yesterday, four dogs out of 24 died on the operating table in a sterilization operation. “Many of the dogs die of a strange diseases where they vomit and defecate blood and then die,” said a dog keeper at Memelakha.
In fact, HIS has said that there was an uncontrolled spread of disease at the camp without quarantine facilities. The report also stated that most medicines at the camp had already expired. ‘Better results could be achieved by sterilising dogs directly on the streets, because they’re still breeding within the pounds,’ said the report. “Catching techniques are cruel and food fed to dogs was not balanced and monitored properly.” Local keepers said that the dogs were being given only white rice once a day.
Meanwhile, HIS has proposed that to sterilise all the street dogs in Thimpu and Paro within two months, using the Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate and Release technique, and implement the same in other districts later. The proposal is being supported by the Tourism Council and is currently with the Foreign Ministry. TCC, on its part, said that it welcomed all support, as it was short on resources.
By Tenzing Lamzang
(Bron: http://www.kuenselonline.com/)
(Bron foto: Kuensel Newspaper)
0 comments:
Een reactie plaatsen