Who’ll keep the dogs in?

A large number of stray dogs in many public places of the provincial capital and adjacent rural areas are a constant trouble for the residents as authorities concerned has yet to take measures to find a way to deal with them.
Dogs can be seen on roads and streets of many areas, particularly Allama Iqbal Town, Garhi Shahu, Railway Station, Johar Town, Ghaziabad, Faisal Town, Township, Lahore General Bus Stand and Rivaz Garden.
The residents of these areas have said that they are not only afraid of being attacked by the dogs; they also fear that their children will catch deadly diseases from them.
“The number of stray dogs in our area is increasing rapidly for the last several months,” said Muhammad Faheem, a resident of Township, adding that it seemed as if there was no proper planning to deal with the dogs.
Rehana Bibi, a resident of Ghari Shahu, said she feared the dogs ever since she had been attacked on night. “I keep my doors locked at all times and never allow my children to go out for playing,” she said.
“The dogs are usually seen around garbage heaps during the day, while they wander on roads and streets at night,” said another resident. He said the dogs usually moved in small groups and became violent when they came across pedestrians. The stray dogs come out on to the streets mostly later in the evening and attack almost everyone, said Kamran Khan, a resident of Allama Iqbal Town.
He said that in the past the concerned authorities had been taking action for eliminating stray dogs, but still a large number of dogs could be seen wandering around the locality.
“Stray and non-vaccinated dogs can be huge danger to the general public,” Dr Imtiaz Khalid, a general physician, said, adding “during winter dogs, like everyone else, look for a place to stay warm and their contact with humans can increase”. “No matter how small or insignificant a contact with a dog is, you should always visit a local clinic and get the rabies vaccination,” Khalid said, adding “all government hospitals and clinics provide vaccination free of charge”.
An on-duty senior doctor at Services Hospital, seeking anonymity, said provided medical aid had been provided to more than a dozen men and women during the last week after they were attacked by stray dogs.
According to a report issued by City District Government of Lahore (CDGL), over 350,000 stray dogs have been killed in the past decade to curb cases of rabies and other health related diseases while 27,576 stray dogs were killed in Lahore during the last year.
It might be a trivial issue for the concerned authorities but it really is a serious problem for the residents, remarked another person.
“The dogs don’t have to be killed, the government can build shelters for them too,” said Jafar, an animal right activist.
Another citizen, Adnan Jameel, who thinks that killing dogs is not the only option said, “If there is proper planning, government can actually put these poor dogs up for sale. I am sure many would be willing to buy them”.
Citizens have appealed to the authorities concerned to take a note of this problem and to find a way to deal with the dogs.