Amid intensifying demand for urgent action to control the stray dog menace in the wake of the death of an elderly woman in Thiruvananthapuram district last week in an attack by a large pack of dogs, the Kerala Government has decided to put rabid and violent stray dogs to death using lethal injections “in accordance with the law”.
Stating that human lives were of paramount importance as far as the Government was concerned, State local Administration Minister KT Jaleel told newsmen in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday that the Principal Secretary of his department had been instructed to give necessary directions in this regard to the local administration bodies immediately.
He said that sufficient funds had to be earmarked for the project to check the stray dog menace.
“Availability of enough doctors for sterilising stray dogs has to be ensured. Dogs would need attention for at least two days after the sterilisation process,” Jaleel said, adding that the Government was examining the possibility of using the services of final-year veterinary students.
Instructions had been issued for implementing programmes, including the Animal Birth Control (ABC) project in all panchayats, said the Minister. An amount of Rs 2,000 would be required for sterilising one dog and the local bodies should raise the money from their plan funds, Jaleel said and added that providing funds through budgetary allocation was also being considered.
A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan the other day had decided to adopt urgent measures to check the stray dog menace after pressure mounted on the Government with protests intensifying across the State after a woman, Siluamma (65), was killed on a beach at Pulluvila in Thiruvananthapuram on August 19 in an attack by stray dogs.
Siluamma’s son, who had gone to look for his mother after she failed to return home for a long time, escaped the dog by jumping into the sea. Another woman, Daisy (52), from the same area who was seriously injured in an attack by dogs on the same night is undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. Since then, at least seven people have suffered injuries in attacks by stray dogs in Pulluvila.
Pointing out that dumping of wastes on the streets was one of the main reasons for concentration of stray dogs in particular areas, Jaleel said the Government was considering taking stringent action against people dumping waste.
The issue has been a subject of hot debate across the State for the past few years and had even come up for discussion in the Kerala Assembly earlier this year in the context of an increase in incidents of attacks on humans by stray dogs. As per a report submitted to the Supreme Court recently, more than 100,000 people had suffered dog bites in the State in 2015-16.