New Angle to Srinagar’s Stray Dog Problem

The never-ending discussions, arguments and complaints about the “dog menace” (as it is invariably called) in Srinagar, India, now has a new angle. As reported here the State Government is contracting out the sterilisation of stray dogs and the opponents of the sterilisation program smell a rat. They believe that it is a very nice earner for the contractors, calling it a “million dollar business” and suggesting that the dogs are now “no less than hens that lay golden eggs”. They seem very suspicious about the motivation behind this contracting-out given that lobbying from animal welfare organisations was behind the original decision to stop culling and now an animal welfare organisation (Humane Society of India) is set to benefit from it.

The author of this article is clearly sympathetic to the complaints and includes some very dubious statistics about how many puppies that survive to breed a pair of strays can produce in their lifetime with the clear implication that stopping the killing of strays was a deliberate act by the government to protect this “fortune chain”. However, this conveniently ignores the fact that sterilisation also stops them breeding as much as culling does.

Two things seem to lie behind this strong reaction: people’s frustration at the lack of fatal control methods, which would undoubtedly have faster results in the short-term, and also the State Government’s heavy tactics is stifling complaints and protests.

Apparently, Srinagar’s dog problem is no longer purely about the dogs but has become politicised and thereby almost certainly will be a more complicated issue to solve.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)