DSCC move to relocate dogs unscientific, counter-productive: Animal welfare organisations
Relocation of stray dogs will ruin all the work, money spent over the years to eliminate rabies, control dog population, keep the environment safe, they say
Protesting Dhaka South City Corporation's (DSCC) move to relocate stray dogs from the capital, animal welfare and environmental organisations organised a press conference on Thursday.
Obhoyaronno – Bangladesh Animal Welfare Foundation, People for Animal Welfare (PAW) Foundation, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, Rabies in Asia Foundation, Stella Animal Welfare Foundation, and Care for Paws jointly organised the meeting at the capital.
To keep the city's environment safe and healthy, animal rights activists of Dhaka, the government, and animal welfare workers have been working tirelessly to vaccinate and sterilise dogs at their expenses.
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Also, public awareness and acceptance have slowly grown over the last decade by keeping the dog population in the neighbourhoods safe, reads a press release.
However, all the work and the money spent over the last 10 years will be ruined if the dogs are relocated now, it said.
Recently, DSCC decided to remove thousands of stray dogs from the city to Matuail waste management plant.
DSCC's decision to remove dogs to a separate area will not only be against public interest but it will spoil all the efforts and progress made in eliminating rabies, controlling dog population and keeping the environment safe, the statement said.
Meantime, while visiting the Matuail waste disposal site, Obhoyaronno and PAW found some dogs with their right ears cut, a sign that they have been vaccinated and sterilised.
They also found dogs that were very familiar with people. This indicates that these dogs are not ferocious and belong to a neighbourhood.
The animal welfare representatives also saw that many local dogs already living in the area with over hundreds of waste management employees working there.
So, the relocation of the city's dog population at the waste management site will not only put their lives at stake due to food scarcity but will also pose a greater threat to the hundreds of people working there.
It is enough to vaccinate and sterilise the dog population to keep it under control and removal thousands of dogs is not the right solution, a veterinary physician said at the conference.
So, the animal rights and environmental activists called DSCC's initiative unscientific and counter-productive.
DSCC has already started illegally sedating dogs in different parts of the city and transporting them to the waste plant, says the press release.
