The government and NGOs have also not stepped in to help these smaller cities yet but are making their way toward them after the larger cities have been primarily addressed.ĪBC has alleviated the problem in some cities, but not enough of them, and there was even a large-scale (and illegal) mutt massacre in Kozhikode in January of 2012 after multiple reports of a stray with rabies. They either don't have the funds, or they don't have enough trained professionals ready to join the battle. Some cities, however, struggle to implement the program. Bangalore's ABC program sterilized more than 500 dogs per month in 2014. Based on those results, the program was spread nationally. The rate of rabies significantly declined, as did the wild dog population. A one-year pilot program was run in 1994 in a small region north of Kozhikode, with approximately 1500 female dogs captured. The Animal Birth Control program (ABC), developed by the World Health Organization, involves capturing dogs, spaying females and castrating males, vaccinating them, and then releasing them back into the wild. In 1990, a nationwide sterilization program was implemented. When the British ruled India, they had patience for religious restrictions, and the government supervised the killing of about 50,000 dogs per year, but the dogs bred faster than the Brits could kill them. There was also a cultural basis for the crisis: For a very long time Hinduism was the dominant religion on the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka), and it teaches that all life as sacred. Wild dogs have been a menace in India for centuries, their numbers swelling as humans began creating towns and then cities, which offered plenty of shelter from the elements, and plenty of garbage to feed on. "Not only did I have to endure the pain of a maniac dog, but now I can't go to work." Roots of the Problem, Attempts to Help She was unable to locate the dog, so she had to take precautionary measures by receiving a series of rabies shots on a daily basis for about a month. Sulochana Nair, a housemaid in Kozhikode, was bitten by a dog on her way to work. It also says India has about 20,000 deaths from rabies annually. The Times of India recently reported that in the state of Kerala, about 100,000 people have been attacked by stray dogs since early 2015 and that nationally, over 16 million people are bitten each year. India's Ministry of Health says there are more than 2,000 animal bites each year in Kozhikode. ![]() In Kozhikode, the pack size varies by neighborhood, but more people and more trash usually means more wild dogs. The strays travel in packs that sometimes grow as large as 50 dogs in India's large cities, such as Bangalore and Mumbai. The dominant breed is the Indian Pariah, a medium-sized, short-haired dog that often has relatively long legs and a curly tail. "I feel bad hurting the dogs because I know they are only trying to survive, but they trespass into my property and put my family in danger." "I have woken to bloodcurdling screams of dogs harassing each other," she says. Shekar says the dogs often fight over garbage-small scraps of food or chicken bones-which results in loud, high-pitched howling at night, along with barking and scratching at her door that keeps her family awake. She says the dogs that rummage through her garbage for food scraps leave behind enormous messes that are a hassle and a hazard for her and her family. Shanta Shekar and many other residents of Kozhikode have lined the tops of their walls with broken glass, sharp nails or even barbed wire. The nation's Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, passed in 1960, makes it a crime to "beat, kick, torture, mutilate, administer an injurious substance, or cruelly kill an animal," so people have to be creative about how they protect themselves or they may end up behind bars. These dogs are biting and tearing mats, footwear, plastics and pipes… they are also making scratches on our car." "I fear for my life," says Kavya Krishna, a high school student, "We can't step out of the house. The often-vicious canines block streets and sidewalks, destroying property and sometimes parking themselves on the steps of houses and growl at residents. The dogs loll in the shade throughout the day, when temperatures can go well above 100 degrees, then begin to hunt and harass at dusk. Within the past three years, packs of strays have made residents of this densely populated coastal city at the southwestern tip of India feel like hostages. Packs of wild dogs have haunted India for centuries, but urbanization and pollution have recently made the problem more prevalent and more dangerous. Updated |In the bustling Indian city of Kozhikode, many residents live in fear, terrorized by man's best friend.
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