Ashiq Hussain
SRINAGAR, Nov 20: The menace of stray dogs in Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, is all set to increase as a surgical process to curb their population has been put on hold due to cold weather.
Vets at Suhama centre in the outskirts of city have stopped the much-hyped Animal Birth Control (ABC) program for the past one week as they say a sub-zero minimum temperature could result in hypothermia or extreme cold shocks in the dogs undergoing surgery.
“We have stopped the process as there is no heating system at this facility,” Veterinary Officer of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Javaid Rather said.
Winter in the Himalayan region of Kashmir lasts till March, marked by heavy snow.
Over 91,000 in number as per official count in capital Srinagar, the dogs have posed a great health risk to the citizens as over 50 dog-bites are reported daily in the valley.
The issue grabbed newspaper headlines after a 100% surge in the number of dog bite cases in the past four years majority of them among children.
As the number of people bitten by dogs rose to a staggering 18,500 for the year ending March 2011, the government paced up the implementation of its 2001 Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme.
The state government has been weary to cull the dog population fearing backlash from animal rights activists despite the presence of a dog for every 13 residents of the summer capital Srinagar. As against this the national average dog-man ratio is 1:36.
An expert committee of government formed after high court directions to look for dog population control measures other than ABC failed to come out with something substantial except asking kids “to behave in front of street dogs.”
Since May this year, not more than 1000 dogs have been sterilised with just 4 to 5 operations daily indicating that the drive was bound to take time.
“If the government raises the infrastructure for the heating arrangement of dogs, we can start the process again. Otherwise it will commence from March, 2013,” informed Dr Javaid Rather.
(Courtesy: HT)
