KASUR: Reporting of 24 dog bite cases in urban areas of the city in a single day speaks volumes about the inefficiency of the district administration regarding implementation of the Animal (dogs) Birth Control policy 2021.

Under the policy, the authorities are supposed to neuter and vaccinate stray dogs, instead of killing them. Their failure to implement the policy has resulted in an alarming surge in the number of stray dogs in the city.

At least three departments or civic agencies –District Health Authority (DHA), Municipal Committee (MC) and Livestock department – are responsible for controlling the canine population in the city, but all of them are blaming each other for the menace.

Civic agencies, depts blame each other for the situation

The fresh dog bite cases were reported on Wednesday at Bulleh Shah Road, Shahbaz Khan road, Nizampura, Bhasarpura, Khadimabad and Kot Rukandin areas of the city.

All the victims were brought to the local district headquarters hospital and were discharged by the DHQ hospital doctors after administration of rabies vaccine and other medical treatment.

DHA Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Talha believes that the new TNVR policy (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return) policy would work effectively only if all the key stakeholders work honestly.

Saying that trapping the dogs is the first step in the implementation of the policy, he regretted that the MC officials did not trap even a single dog so far to hand it over to the livestock and health department for vaccination and neutering.

Expressing concern over the situation, the civil society has demanded the district administration to look into the matter and take necessary measures to resolve the issue.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2024