The ‘catch and kill’ method is barbaric. The Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules of 2001 and the programme associated with it constitute the only effective and humane method of controlling stray dog populations
Any incident of stray dogs biting a young girl causes concern and raises the question of preventive measures. Not surprisingly, such an incident in a prestigious school in Vadodara has triggered a storm, one result of which is an order from the municipal corporation banning all stray animals from the premises of schools run by it and stating that principals will be held responsible if this was not done and dogs bit anyone.
The corporation has reportedly been under immense pressure from a section of the public intensely hostile to stray dogs and a newspaper known for its anti-animal stance. The fact, however, remains that its directive violates the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules of 2001 which is the law. According to it, stray dogs can only be lifted from their habitats for neutering and vaccination and, both done, have to be returned to the place from which they had been taken. The rationale is simple. Dogs are territorial and do not allow those from other areas to enter their domains. Removal of dogs from one area will enable those from elsewhere to move in; their removal will lead to a repeat of the experience.
According to the Guidelines for Dog Population Management (Henceforth Guidelines), released by the World Health Organisation and the World Society for the Protection of Animals in 1990, “Removal and killing of dogs should never be considered as the most effective way of dealing with the problem of surplus dogs in the community: it has no effect on the root cause of the problem, which is over-production of dogs”.
The ABC programme constitutes the only effective and humane method of controlling stray dog populations. In Technical Report Series 931, WHO’s Expert Consultation on Rabies in Geneva in October 2004, stated: “Since the 1960s, ABC programmes coupled with rabies vaccination have been advocated as a method to control urban street male and female dog populations and ultimately human rabies in Asia.” It is not difficult to understand why. The Guidelines clearly state:
“Each habitat has a specific carrying capacity for each species. This specific carrying capacity essentially depends on the availability, quality and distribution of the resources (shelter, food, water) for the species concerned. The density of population for higher vertebrates (including dogs) is almost always near the carrying capacity of the environment. Any reduction in the population density through additional mortality is rapidly compensated by better reproduction and survival. In other words, when dogs are removed, the survivors’ life expectancy increases because they have better access to resources”.
The argument that such a situation will not arise if all stray dogs in a city or State or country are killed simultaneously or within a few days holds little water. Nowhere has such a savage venture succeeded. Besides, the presence of sterilised and vaccinated dogs in an area is essential to the success of the ABC programme, which also explains the rationale of returning such dogs to the place from which they had been taken. With their — dogs being territorial — keeping unsterlised and unvaccinated dogs out, the authorities implementing the ABC programme can progressively move into other areas leaving each to be guarded by sterilised and vaccinated dogs. Proceeding area by area they can cover an entire city or country within a pre-fixed period — returning only occasionally to areas already covered to take care of sundry unsterilised and unvaccinated dogs that might have sneaked in.
Besides, stray dogs that are familiar with their surroundings, know who is a friend and who is not, what spells danger, places where food and shelter are available, and have referral households that support them, are at peace with their environment. In contrast, stray dogs moving into a new area are often aggressive because they are under attack from local dogs, cannot distinguish between friend and foe, do not know where they can find food and shelter and, hence, are always on the edge.
Also, the ABC programme itself lowers the aggression level in dogs and bitches. Since sterilised bitches do not come on heat, fights among dogs over bitches, which raise their aggression levels, do not occur during mating seasons when they are most frequent. This drastically reduces the number of instances in which a higher level of aggression leads to a greater intolerance of provocation and biting of people. Also, since sterilised bitches do not litter, one does not witness the rise in their aggression level that occurs when they are guarding their puppies against threats — which are many, given the way in which humans treat animals. Significantly, many get bitten when teasing, hitting or trying to take away puppies.
Often, people opposing the ABC programme do not know the rationale behind it or the way it works. They consider it fruitless because sterilised and vaccinated dogs are back in their localities. The decline occurs gradually as sterilised dogs live out their biological life spans. To cite one example, an NGO, Help in Suffering, started the programme in Jaipur as a pilot project in 1994. It was expanded to cover the entire city in 1996. According to a paper by Dr JF Reece and Dr SK Chawla, “During the eight-year study period [1994 to 2002] a decline in the neighbourhood [read stray] dog population of 28 per cent was recorded between the peak and the last survey — an annual average of 3.5 per cent”.
One has to explain to people the inevitability of the slow decline in numbers and the critical importance of having these dogs back, and the fact that no instant solution can be found for issues that have been with societies for centuries. Over 60 years after independence, poverty still stalks this country despite efforts at development.
Stray dogs have existed in India ever since one can remember. The great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata mention them. Significantly, Yudhishtira could not have entered heaven in his human body if he had abandoned the stray dog that had followed the Pandavas from the beginning of their last journey from Hastinapur.
In Vadodara, the municipal corporation should, instead of exiling Indian dogs from its schools, have them neutered and vaccinated and brought back. If anything, they will keep unneutered and unvaccinated stray dogs out and ensure that even in the unlikely event of a dog bite, the chances of the child getting rabies is very slim. Anger must not cloud reason.