STRAY dogs have made the lives of citizens miserable in Punjab, and it is not just limited to small and remote towns; Lahore, the provincial capital, is very much in trouble. Some of the organised residential areas, such as the Lalazar Colony near Thokar Niaz Beg, have become a den of stray dogs.

They move in packs and terrorise the residents, especially women and children. Some empty plots of land with boundary walls have become their favourite resting places.

The Lalazar Colony holds regular elections, but the office-holders happen to sympathise with stray dogs more than with the residents. The residential society has its own security guards, but they have also failed to protect the residents.

All this is happening while the Lahore Municipal Corporation (LMC) employs a unit of full-time dog shooters, whose duty it is to shoot dogs and remove the bodies from the site.

What aggravates the situation is that while the stray dogs prowl the roads freely, there is a shortage of anti-rabies vaccines in government hospitals.

Lalazar Colony is supposed to be an upscale neighbourhood. If an area like this is neglected by the LMC, the situation of underdeveloped areas can be well imagined. The authorities must take immediate action in this regard and help us get rid of this menace.

Iftekhar A. Khan
Lahore

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2022