Kerala Hit by Escalating Man-stray Dog Conflict; Dozen Strays Found Dead Due to Alleged Poisoning

Give a dog a bad name and hang him too is what literally happened in Kottayam district of Kerala recently where a canine, accused of attacking people, was beaten to death and then publicly strung up, in the wake of a spate of vicious attacks on humans, including children, in the state. In an effort to allay public fears, the government has announced a slew of measures including a state-wide mass vaccination campaign from September 20 to October 20 for vaccinating stray and pet dogs and opening more Animal Birth Control centres. However, animal welfare organisations like Daya and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are sceptical about the government claims regarding the number of ABC centres and believe “they only exist on paper.” Ambili Purackal, who started Daya Animal Welfare Organisation in 2001 and Idukki SPCA secretary M N Jayachandran said killing dogs was not an option merely because some of them bit humans. “Daya along with a couple of other voluntary organisations is carrying out a vaccination drive for stray dogs in Kochi city at night presently and despite our expertise we are able to catch and vaccinate only 10-12 canines each day after several hours of running around,” Purackal told PTI. Jayachandran too said the government has not contacted any voluntary animal welfare organisation for assistance in catching dogs or ABC process.