Shelters for stray dogs

Stray dog is one of the major eyesores of cities like Mumbai in India. In every street corner there is a “gang” of stray dogs creating nuisance and having open sex. The Bombay High Court has directed the municipality to solve the problem at the earliest. But no success. It is reported that there is a ban on killing stray dogs by the courts.

The Mumbai municipality is unable to tackle this problem in spite of spending millions of rupees on sterilization program entrusted to some NGOs. It was reported that randomly dogs were caught counted for billing and left on the highways even without sterilization.

Now, the issue is building Dog Shelters to house the stray dogs. It is reported that two plots totally measuring 47 acres were earmarked for the purpose. The municipal Corporation is going to spend 90 million rupees on catching the dogs, transporting them to the shelters and feeding them. There are about 600,000 stray dogs in Mumbai alone.

There are many questions which need to be answered.

1. Whether all the dogs will be sterilized? Ethical aspect of the sterilization program.
2. Whether spending millions of rupees on sheltering and feeding of stray dogs when we do not do so for the poor people in Mumbai who sleep on footpath and starve.
3. What will be conduct of the dogs if male and female dogs are kept together and separately? A good percentage of the dogs is sick with skin diseases.
4. If other animals such as chicken, goats, sheep, snakes, birds, etc are killed and eaten as non-vegetarian food why so much concern for the dogs? Why they shouldn’t be put into sleep? What is the logic?
5. Dogs should be permitted to be kept at home only, under proper license and healthcare.
6. Who will compensate if a stray dog bites somebody (children are the main targets) resulting in injury with potential for deadly Rabies disease?