|| NEYAZ ELAHI
BUREAU CHIEF CENTRAL KASHMIR:
one of the oldest city existing on the planet Earth known for its marvelous Dal Lake, Mughal Gardens, architecture and bridges has been now known as the ‘city of dogs’- courtesy the presence of more than 1.5 lakh stray dogs prowling in the historical city. After his visit to this city when I sought my response from one of the outside state friends he sarcastically, quipped: ‘Dogs everywhere, on streets, footpaths, colleges, schools, hospitals, roads, gardens.’ The same day I passed through Jawahar Nagar locality and found at least 200 dogs wagging their tails at one place opposite DAV School. I realized my friend was not incorrect.
The population of stray dogs have been multiplying manifold. The cases of dog bites and attack on human beings have also seen a steep rise. Authorities are in deep slumber dancing on the tunes of so-called ‘Animal Rights Activists’. Some years back a dog sterilization program to limit the population stray dogs was started by the municipal authorities here but the same was stopped immediately without any success. Their `scientific’ dog-sterilization methods are too amusing. Till they sterilize one dog, ten pups were born. A huge chunk of government funds were wasted though the program was given much hype at that time.
The gestation period of dogs is 50- 60 days which may increase by a few days. It means after every two months a female dog gives birth to average 4 puppies and they grow into dogs at an age of 7 months to 1 year. The number of births may increase upto 10 puppies. So, dog population grows 6 times more than human beings where the gestation period is 9 months and one child on an average is born. Last year, a private member’s bill aiming to curb the stay dog menace was introduced in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
Let us wait for the day when so-called Animal Rights Defenders are mauled by canines
The bill titled ‘Jammu and Kashmir Curbing the menace of stray dogs bill, 2015’ was introduced by legislator Engineer Rashid. Though the Bill was allowed to be debated, later on neither it was debated nor discussed. Nobody till date knows the fate of the bill. BJP legislator Dr Nirmal Singh was first to oppose the Bill making it clear how much he is ‘ignorant’ about the worries and frustration of the residents of city people. If the Bill is passed it would empower the local authorities at Panchayat and Tehsil levels to order killing of canines in “extreme situation”. It is the need of the hour to devise a mechanism to curb the dog population. Though some officials in the district administration and Srinagar Municipal Corporation are keen to take some steps in this regard, but they are wary of so-called ‘Animal Rights Activists’.
“We should catch these dogs and place them in the courtyards of these champions of Animals Rights Activists. They are more concerned about dogs than humans. It is a better option to force these activists to take care of these dogs,” a furious official once said during an interaction. Dog bites have claimed many innocent lives across Kashmir Valley while, most of the humans targeted were school going children and infants.
These ferocious canines have created fear psychosis among all sections of society, the morning walkers and the faithful who want to attend morning or evening prayers or the school children seem to have become easy prey to these unbridled canines. The danger will always be there till our so-called champions of Animal Rights Activists stop harping on ‘violation’ of animal rights. It will interesting to note how these activists react when they or their little children will be mauled by pack of stray dogs. Let us wait for the day.
(The author is a senior journalist and can be mailed at [email protected])
