Tamil Nadu and Kerala are on the verge of fighting a new war in addition to the decade-old legal skirmishes over the Mullaperiyar Dam. This new irritant in the already rocky relationship between the two States is none other than man’s best friend. Yes, the two neighbours are fighting over dogs now!
The Stray Dog Eradication Movement in Kerala, led by businessman, writer and activist Kochouseph Chittilappilly, has sought the permission of the Government to transport stray dogs to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
It all began when in order to deal with the problems caused by a surfeit of stray dogs in their areas, the local population took the law into its own hands and resorted to the cruel practice of killing stray dogs and puppies by poisoning them.
This led to an outcry from animal lovers, following which Kerala Police as well as the Government issued directives that action would be initiated against perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Chittilappilly staged a 24-hour fast against the Government’s directive and asked the administration to do something to free the State of stray dogs.
Now, Jose Maveli, a colleague of Chittilappilly, has come out with a suggestion that the street dogs be transported to neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. “There are many animal lovers in these States who are ready to adopt the street dogs. But the State administration has denied us permission to catch these stray dogs,” Maveli said.
The proposal has caused widespread resentment in Tamil Nadu. “It is not fair, proper and legal on the part of Kerala activists to suggest that stray dogs be transported to Tamil Nadu,” Chinni Krishna, vice-chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) told The Pioneer. Animal lovers across Tamil Nadu are on guard against vehicles transporting dogs to the State.
Krishna pointed out that the directive issued by AWBI to all States is in conformity with international guidelines. “The World Health Organisation has suggested Animal Birth Control-Anti-Rabies (ABC-AR), as the only means to control rabies. It has been observed that in places where animal birth control has been implemented for a prolonged period of time, rabies has been eradicated completely and dog bite incidents have been controlled to a large extent. Killing of dogs could make the other dogs more aggressive and lead to more bites,” said the AWBI’s directive.
Tamil Nadu has been pursuing the ABC-AR programme for many years and it has paid rich dividends, said Nanditha Krishna, another animal rights activist.
“Catching dogs from one location and leaving them somewhere else will also make them more aggressive as they will get into fights with other dogs over territory and food,” she explained.
Meanwhile a social activist alleged that Kerala has been surreptitiously dumping garbage into Tamil Nadu. “Now they want to dump their stray dogs into the State also. let them initiate the ABC-AR programme to control the dog population in their State and ensure safety of the population instead of looking at Tamil Nadu as a dumping yard for all their unwanted things,” he said.