Kerala: Spike in dog-bite deaths raises debate on culling strays
What's the story
Kerala is getting a bad rap over its stray dogs.
The reason? Well, while the state is not even in the top 10 Indian states with the most strays, it is the sixth largest in the country with confirmed cases of rabies and deaths due to dog attacks.
It has reported nearly 1,00,000 such cases in 2022 so far.
Information
Stray dog attacks are on the rise across Kerala
Lately, several videos of aggressive street dogs have surfaced and gone viral on social media. In a video, a pack of stray dogs was seen chasing two boys who ran and managed to get inside a house and close the gate just in time.
Cases
21 in Kerala have died due to rabies in 2022
Shocking as it may sound, 21 people in the southern state have lost their lives, this year alone, due to rabies.
This includes a 12-year-old girl, who died despite taking three vaccination shots.
Subsequently, this raised questions on the vaccination's efficacy, urging the government to now test its quality.
The fear and panic around dogs have led many to take extreme precautions.
Debate
"We don't know if these bites were by rabid dogs"
Ever since the death of the 12-year-old girl, there have been multiple debates between anti-dog settlements and dog welfare associations.
The latter says that they don't even know if these bites were by rabid dogs.
"Cases like these trigger a storm of daily news reports that don't really contribute to public awareness," opines Dr. Beena D, vice president, Indian Veterinary Association.
Recent development
Kerala government approached SC, seeking permission to kill rabid dogs
Kerala government has approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to kill rabid dogs.
Kannur District Panchayat and Kozhikode Corporation, two institutions ruled by CPM, have filed a petition.
This human-animal conflict led to a man being booked for carrying an airgun to accompany kids safely to their school, against the backdrop of rising cases of aggressive stray dog behavior.
Counter response
"Mass killings will solve nothing, we'll keep going in circles"
While activists say that they don't blame people for being scared, they believe that violence will not solve anything.
Gurgaon-based animal activist Sarah Srinivasan says, "Culling of stray dogs is nothing new in Kerala," and that a better approach to this case is to "run a proper ABC unit in the city."
"There's a need to understand dogs and their behavior," she adds.
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Srinivasan explains how dogs chasing vehicles is misunderstood as 'mad,' 'ferocious' behavior
"Dogs chase vehicles because they have seen their friends being run over or beaten by sticks/stones by riders or drivers. The trauma stays in them and since they aren't as intellectual to remember the culprits by their sight, they chase similar vehicles to protect themselves."
The way ahead
"Establishing and administrating an ABC unit can help Kerala"
"ABC means Animal Birth Control, which is about sterilizing the dogs," explains Srinivasan.
She adds, "Kerala has an ABC unit which is apparently not functioning well. The way ahead is to run an effective ABC unit without the community concerned wasting resources and not doing their job properly."
"Sterilization and proper vaccination are the key elements that can help Kerala right now," she concludes.
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What is sterilization, and how can it solve the problem?
"Sterilization is the process of removing the reproductive organs from dogs. With this approach, the state can control its dog population from soaring. It is a very common and ethical process and is any day better than mass killings, for sure," says Srinivasan.
Live and let live
"Kerala should follow Netherlands's footsteps, chuck thoughts of mass killings"
"The Netherlands had an overwhelming number of stray dogs but today it's the first country to be completely free of them as they focused a lot on sterilization and vaccination," says Srinivasan.
"Dogs don't produce rabies. Instead, they get infected themselves and end up dying. So vaccinations to both humans and dogs, and sterilization of the latter can help counter the problem," she concludes.