CRUELTY implies an administrative failure to adopt humane solutions. Despite the Lahore High Court’s orders to use vaccination and implement the gentle population control measures set in the Punjab Animal Birth Control Policy, 2021, the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore continues to shoot or poison stray dogs. Dog corpses, locals allege, are thrown in open areas, raising both public health and animal protection concerns. The shocking development flouts assurances by the authorities that they will switch to sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination campaigns. Culling only yields a temporary drop in stray populations. There are other, more effective measures — catch teams, vaccination and neutering programmes. These were approved under a population control project some years ago. Unfortunately, they seem to have been forgotten.

Trap-neuter-vaccinate programmes have successfully lowered feral canine numbers in Asia. The method is kind, does not create an ecological imbalance and is backlash-proof. But such initiatives alone cannot do the job. Garbage, the food source that sustains streets dogs, needs to be tackled through proper waste disposal. Wild dogs are also a rural problem. A majority of health units in remote areas operate without anti-rabies medicines, turning preventable deaths into inevitable ones. Therefore, restoration of dog population control schemes and the provision of anti-rabies shots across urban and rural hospitals is crucial. Public awareness, immunisations, and value for animals will not only protect human well-being, it will also inculcate ethical public health habits. Bureaucratic lethargy, not dogs, is making our streets fatal. Animal rights activists and the public must compel local governments to demonstrate a well-resourced, synchronised and responsible response. It cannot be emphasised enough that culling perpetuates the cycle of overpopulation and the risk of rabies. The void it creates is swiftly filled by puppies. Saving humans by killing animals is a primitive shortcut that should be banned.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026