GS Paper IV

News Excerpt:

Recently, Bhutan became the first country in the world to fully sterilise and vaccinate all its street dogs in a 14-year project.

• The National Dog Population Management and Rabies Control Project, initiated in 2009 and with the support of Humane Society International (HSI), has successfully sterilised and vaccinated over 150,000 stray dogs in Bhutan. 
• Bhutan's success in this regard sets a positive example for other countries to prioritise humane methods in managing their stray dog populations and controlling the spread of rabies.

The Stray Dog Problem: 

• The National Rabies Control Program reported 6,644 clinically suspected cases and deaths of human rabies between 2012 and 2022. 
• Between January-October 2022, Kerala and Punjab reported over 10,000 cases of dog bites each, while Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Kashmir reported between 1,000-10,000 cases, according to a report by The Lancet. 
• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India accounts for 36% of the global deaths due to rabies and 65% of the deaths due to rabies in the Southeast Asia region. 
• According to a report, Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, have seen 29,698 and 18,183 dog bite cases respectively in the last six months.

Learning from Bhutan’s case: 

• Bhutan may be a small country, but it’s certainly been big on intent while handling animal welfare and human health in a humane and civilised manner. And its achievement provides a stark contrast to the blood-lust seen in some quarters against stray dogs in India—when the need is, in fact, for scientific investigations into alleged dog-linked incidents and strengthening of programs implemented by municipalities and animal non-government organisations (NGOs).
• Bhutan’s achievement comes after “years of investment in a humane dog management program,” said global animal charity Humane Society International (HSI), which was involved with this project. In fact, Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering recognised their support in Bhutan’s street dog welfare success from 2009 until its closure—"a decade and a half of intensive, targeted spay/neuter work and community engagement initiatives" undertaken by Bhutan and HSI, it added.

Experience of Indian States:

The targeted spay/neuter programme is not new to India, and several States including Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, have been implementing it with reasonable success. It is an ongoing task that needs more resources, by way of funds, veterinarians, genuine animal NGOs and pharmaceutical companies (making rabies vaccines, etc), to effectively expand this sterilisation and vaccination programme across the country.

Recent Cases:

We have reportedly seen videos from societies in Metro cities where the pet owner is often seen in arguments or cases of dog bites in numerous cities. So, one in their right mind wants violence—involving animals or humans. But recent tragic incidents have seen some people rush to promote hate-filled agendas, even as the details behind these alleged dog-linked incidents remain unclear.

Conclusion:

We are the land of Buddha and Gandhi, both talked about treating animals with compassion, and dignity, responsible animal ownership and focusing on reducing human-animal conflict where one doesn’t benefit at the cost of another. Therefore, recognising links between human, animal and environmental health, India needs to strengthen its Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme, promote dog adoption, regulate the commercial pet trade and ensure that "ahimsa" sits at the heart of these policies.