Recently, protests rocked Pattan after a 10-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs at Singhpora.
Earlier, a lawyer from Baramulla lost his life, exactly 21 days after he was attacked and injured by rabid dogs.
This is another kind of battle happening on the streets of Kashmir, which is being criminally ignored. A critical conflict between people and dogs.
The dog terror that has become so wild in Kashmir with packs of stray dogs found in most of the lanes and bylanes, all the time.
The stray dogs don’t only terrorize and chase the people, they are also seen sitting in the middle of roads, hindering the traffic and creating fright particularly among the elderly and children.
The research paper titled ‘Occurrence of Dog Bites and Rabies within Humans in Srinagar, Kashmir’ published in May 2021 by Namera Thahab et al reveals that in the recent past the stray dog population has increased rapidly and Srinagar has been colonized with them.
According to an estimate, there is a staggering number of more than 91,000 dogs in Srinagar city alone, making it one dog for every 12 citizens of Srinagar. The majority of dog-bite victims are males between the age group of 30–40, with most of the bites on legs.
There is an increasing burden of dog-bite cases in all hospitals of Kashmir. The data from the anti-Rabies clinic at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar discloses that the clinic had finished its stock fourfold in just ten months. The overwhelming volume of dog bite cases was from the Srinagar district.
The news report carried in daily Greater Kashmir in the year 2015 shockingly discovered that in Kashmir at least 20 persons died of rabies in the past five years while 80000 cases of dog bites were reported in the valley. Since then, the situation has deteriorated further.
Rabies is a disease caused by a deadly virus, spread to humans from the saliva of rabid animals, especially stray dogs. This disease is rare in developed countries; however, it exists in the developing world.
If any stray dog is found to have foaming at the mouth, is drooling saliva, looks ill or has difficulty in swallowing, these may be the physical signs of rabies in dogs and such dog is to be immediately reported to local municipality personnel.
The exponential increase in dog bite cases in Kashmir has resulted in increased demand for the anti-rabies vaccine (ARV). The Anti-Rabies Vaccination programmes are being implemented by the health department.
Due to a sharp increase in dog-bite cases, there is a reported shortage of ARVs often in government hospitals. Though the availability of ARVs is important, the priority should be to decrease the number of dog-bite cases.
Besides causing physical harm in the form of injuries and even deaths, stray dogs keep on barking at people and hounding moving vehicles, causing a fear psychosis among the pedestrians and drivers.
Stray dogs are often seen fighting in the middle of roads and keep howling for a long time during the night, irking the residents and creating horror.
In addition to the conflict between humans and dogs, they also have been attacking the livestock in rural areas. As many as 18 sheep were killed and over a dozen injured in two stray dogs’ attacks in J&K’s Ganderbal district (TOI, 14th Jan- 2022).
So far, the various Municipal Corporations of Kashmir, especially Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has miserably failed to keep the check on the growing health crisis emerging from dog bites. They are watching the situation in a lackadaisical approach.
They have yet to effectively implement an Animal Birth Control program to check the proliferation of stray dogs. Caging canines from one place and relocating them to other places won’t make any difference. These dogs can never be tamed. Their instinct to bite won’t change.
Not just governmental agencies, people too are somehow responsible for the deadly dog menace. Among many reasons for the increase in the population of stray dogs is careless waste disposal in open garbage dumps.
The dogs naturally get attracted to the places where chicken and meat waste is dumped by meat and poultry traders. Packs of stray dogs feed on the food items present in the garbage heaps; besides being fed munificently around military bunkers.
Bottomline: Fighting street dog menace needs multiple approaches. As responsible citizens, we should stop the habit of lobbing garbage on the roads.
The household garbage and the waste produced in the meat and poultry industry should be properly disposed off through the waste collection mechanism put in place by Municipal Corporations.
Furthermore, the garbage accumulated needs a robust waste management method to discard, destroy, process and control the wastes. In addition, a policy should be devised by the Municipal Corporations to check and control the increasing number of stray dogs.
There is no denial of the rights of animals, but humans matter the most. Human rights are of great consequence. If dogs overpower any place, it is an alarm bell for riotous mayhem and nasty lawlessness.
Of course, people cannot be sitting ducks for the dogs. We can’t tolerate dogs—defiant, unruly, brutal, taking a toll on humans. After all, human rights can’t be allowed to go to the dogs.
We can’t afford listening to shaggy-dog stories of animal lovers and bear the marks of animal violence. Dogs can never be tamed. The interior is unchangeable. Come what may. Discourses and dens can change but dogs will remain dogs since dogs are dogs.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK