The dog population continues to increase in Srinagar city and other parts of Kashmir. Consequently, their attacks on people and injuries caused are also on rise. People of all age groups particularly children, women and elderly persons are the victims in such incidents.
Effective measures are needed to minimise the increasing dog population. Otherwise, increase in their number will lead to further serious problems. The concerned authorities must see to it as to how this problem is solved.
Officials have been saying that dog sterilisation in the city will be started on a big scale to put a check on their increasing population. However, such a process has not been started on a large scale yet.
There is a need to carry out dog sterilisation on large scale, not only in Srinagar city but other parts of Kashmir as well. A few decades back, hundreds of dogs were poisoned to death in Srinagar city and this was to continue.
But animal rights activists strongly objected to it describing it as cruel. They urged the authorities to take some other steps to solve the dog population problem and not to kill them.
Later, the officials decided to go for dog sterilisation. But this measure is not taken frequently and that too on large scale and subsequently the dog population is increasing without any check.
Officials say the residents are also responsible for the increase in population. According to them, the people keep on throwing garbage including left over food outside their houses in several areas.
The food attracts dogs in large number. The dogs do not allow the movement of pedestrians from evening hours. It becomes difficult for a person to walk amid a pack of dogs during evening or night hours.
The dogs sometimes attack people even during day time. The people should avoid throwing garbage on roads. Sometimes the movement of leopards is also noticed in some areas of the city.
It is being said that the leopards reach the residential areas in search of food particularly dogs. A number of dogs were killed by wild animals during their presence in the residential areas since last year.
These leopards cause panic among residents, who fear attacks. There is a need to tackle the problem both at official and non-official levels. At official level with sterilisation of dogs, and at non-official level by not throwing garbage outside houses.
