January 17, 2011

Stray dogs and the stray lives! Who is to account for the death of hapless kid Prashantho?

The death of Prashantho, that eighteen month old child is heart rending. That this innocent kid’s life was put to an end by street dogs in the early hours, when the Bangalore was sleeping makes the incident more sordid.

In the just now - abruptly or forcibly - ended Legislature session Prashantho’s death was one and the only issue pertaining to the common man. Nandeesh Reddy, the first time MLA from KR Puram, Bangalore raised the issue of Prashantho and urged for steps to prevent such tragedies.

On behalf of the Government, I responded. The following day, on 14-1-2010, I chaired a meeting in BBMP to look into the issue. An estimate tells, there are some 3.50 lakh dogs in Bangalore out of which nearly two lakh are street dogs. Anyone who goes for a morning walk, or who comes home after those late night shifts or any two wheelers would have faced the brunt of these dogs. The plight of the rag pickers who search for their “treasure’ near garbage heaps in the wee hours is still more pathetic. In that meeting, the possible remedies, the issue of Animal lover’s passion towards their “man’s best friend” also came for the discussion.

In this conflict, between the prevention of cruelty to animals as well as humans, the question is how to balance the safety of human society and merciful handling of the street dogs? How to do justice to Society for Prevention of cruelty to Animals and Society for Prevention of cruelty to human beings. (Children included) at the same time.

Please advice. Your opinion goes a long way to arrive at a solution.

-          S. SURESHKUMAR 

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Sir,

Very good action from your side.

Garbage collection should done 100% perfect in entire city..

Specially hotel,kalyana mantap and party hall garbage should be collected properly and disposed.

Dogs should be done an birth control surgery.

Aditya Badami said...

To Sri Suresh Kumar,

Thank you for being the reasonable politician you are and I must say please be so always!!

My opinion is that there must be a clampdown on illegal butcheries in Bangalore city. Being a Bangalorean I have seen the city mushroom beyond recognition, and what is noticeable is the increase in road side slaughter houses which attracts dogs.

I urge you to clampdown on that and also please look into a more effective wastes management system. I am sure through groups like ABIDE and RWAs we can assist the BBMP in it.

With respect directly to the stray dog issue. Sir I feel by reducing 50% of the dogs, more dogs will enter. Bangalore is not an island city like Bombay, where the numbers can be controlled. Bangalore has many moffusil towns around it and there will always be dogs.

I think by going on an ABC war footing in Bangalore Urban and Rural districts alongwith Ramanagara and Chikkaballapur we can control this. Please appoint a ombudsman who will over see the NGO work.

Sir I hope you consider these suggestions..

Regards

Aditya Badami

Gopal said...

I don't know issues and their rectification, all I know is we all are child of mother nature and we all have equal rights to live. It doesn't matter if there is a man or dog. We human populated ourselves like a virus and destroying the balance of nature. We should take the responsibility and do something in the welfare of fellow living beings.

I will not agree the a dog attacked a child without any reason. Animals do not understands hate, and you can't clap with one hand. There must be a reason. We can't judge a thing without hearing both the side and poor dog can't even deny the charges on him :-( this is just a request to find out a ground zero so that all can live in peace and harmony
Thanks
Gopal

Nagaraja said...

Dear Sir,

Street dogs problem is a serious issue everywhere. Following are the possible solutions in my view.

1. Making surgery to dogs without hurting.
2. Keeping the city clean in all respects.
3. Transferring the stray dogs to the thick forests (I don´t know its feasibility) so that some how they can live freely.

Dhruva said...

"Transferring the stray dogs to the thick forests (I don´t know its feasibility) so that some how they can live freely."

HaHaHaHaHa.

Anonymous said...

Sterilize dogs on war footing. Ban unauthorised slaughter houses and put strict controls on existing slaughter houses where blunt knives and painful death is given to hapless animals.Population control for humans is urgently needed. The nation cannot afford more population as resources are drying up. See the price of onions,sugar and vegetables. How can poor people survive in this era of extreme high prices for common items? Think and act.

sandeep nikkam said...

i think at first we have to take the birth control team on task, there has been an heavy revenue leakage with no productive work, the particular case of baby getting mauled is due to no proper waste disposed due to which the dog population has increased, in fact it’s a clear indicator that the waste disposal is not in place..start collecting the garbage from the poultry & meat shops directly at an additional levy of taxes to them to avoid any future incidents. penalize the fisheries dept for letting cat fish rearing......finally culling to control population is very important...BBMP, fisheries & lake development authorities are to be held responsible along with the person who is in charge minister for bangalore....

Sandhya Acharya said...

Sir,
We have created a petition on this issue, along with our suggestions:
http://www.petitiononline.com/12dog345/petition.html

The petition has gathered 100s of votes in less than 3 days. Please see what people strongly recommend:
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?12dog345

Maia said...

Dear Sir,
Thank you for giving us a chance at airing our views too.
It is highly unfortunate that Prashanto lost his life and I understand that no value however high can be attached to a human life.
I suggest we make waste management laws stricter, and continue the ABC.
We must think of positive solutions & take neutral steps to prevent such tragedies from occurring again & again.

Manju said...

As far as this incident is considered , I think the street dogs should not be fed with the non-veg wastes like mutton, chicken from any of non-veg hotels/housekeepers. Dogs do such acts only when they have the taste of non-veg items.
Ban the hoteliers/people from feeding the dogs with non-veg wastes..

Jacko the Wacko said...

Hi Sir,
I am really glad that you have created a platform like this to listen to the voice of the citizen. The issue of waste management should be taken up very seriously in growing city like ours and especially the number of growing illegal butcher shops and fisheries. Lets work towards a cleaner and greener Bangalore. Do let us know how we can assist you in all you projects to make this city the best in all walks of life.

Unknown said...

It is erroneous to refer to Indian street dogs as “strays”. The dogs have not “strayed” anywhere. They “belong” to the streets.

Dogs exist only where there are humans. That is why you do not find dogs in forests. WHO has clearly stated that the number of dogs in a place depends on the “carrying capacity” of the environment – that is the availability of food, water and shelter.

SOLUTION:

• If people do not want dogs on their streets, then they should keep their areas clean, contact the municipality to get the garbage cleared on time, check illegal meat stalls.

• Animal Birth Control / Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ABC/ARV) programme is best for the city since birth control prevents reproduction and vaccination prevents spread of rabies.

• ABC reduces aggression and dog bites. Dogs can get aggressive when they have puppies to defend. When dogs are sterilized, there are no puppies to defend.

• Also when dogs are sterilized, their aggression reduces as the female dogs do not come on heat again (as their ovaries are removed). In the case of male dogs, their testicles are removed and consequently they do not feel the need to compete for female dogs for mating.

• People should preferably befriend dogs, so that they are easy to catch for operation. If it is not possible to make friends with them, the least public can do is to not provoke or stone them. Just let the dogs be.

• Media should help in creating awareness and not whipping up hysteria.

• Finally, man has to learn to be more tolerant of other species. God has created all creatures equal. Man cannot go on encroaching everywhere and call everything that does not suit him, a “menace”. Man encroaches on forest land where elephants are and turns around and blames elephants for “running amok” or destroying crops. Hello, elephants were there first.

Think about this: IF Man is the most superior species, at the apex of evolution …. Why is he the only species that destroys the environment?

According to the BBMP, there were 20 rabies deaths in BMP areas in 2000, which came down to nil deaths in 2009. The credit for this achievement must be given to the ABC / ARV programme.

LIVE AND LET LIVE