7KH GDQJHU RI IHUDO GRJV
A Sdark falls, feral dogs come out of their hiding places in packs of up to 30 individuals. Throughout Africa feral dogs kill and injure people every year. People in communities near feral packs become prisoners in their own homes.
Feral dogs are domestic dogs which have been neglected and left to fend for themselves. Following thousands of years of domestication and hundreds of years of selective breeding, dogs are highly dependent on humans.
Neglected dogs resort to instinctive behaviours of forming packs, protecting their territory and hunting together. They travel great distances in search of food.
They are territorial and attack and kill other packs of dogs which invade their territory. Once feral dogs form packs, they become even more powerful, venturing farther and becoming more aggressive with the confidence of numbers.
Killing by feral dog is a horrible affair and injuries sustained in these attacks can be terrible and take many months to heal. Psychological damage can last a lifetime.
Feral dogs also kill chickens, goats and calves and many innocent leopard has been blamed for livestock losses which are actually attributable to hunting dogs.
Due to the exponential expansion of the human population along with urban, industrial and agricultural development, there is no longer sufficient wildlife to sustain packs of feral dogs. The only abundant wildlife left on earth is inside protected areas.
PROTECTED
Since dogs are not indigenous to Africa (all domestic dogs worldwide from Chihuahuas to Great Danes are descended from European wolves), it is a shame that dogs hunt threatened African wildlife. All wildlife is now struggling to survive due mainly to loss of habitat and poaching. Yet protected wildlife is a highly valuable and sustainable resource which already brings in billions of Dollars to South Africa through ecotourism and could earn a lot more.
So, not only do feral dogs spread disease and litter, cause traffic accidents and terrible injuries and deaths to humans, they also deplete wildlife which should be generating foreign currency through tourism.
With 500 wild bird species, birding routes should be high earners in Eswatini but tourists will think twice about visiting areas where they may suffer attack from feral dogs with the added risk of rabies.
Furthermore, wild canids breed only once a year but we have selectively bred domestic dogs for high reproductive rates, so their populations increase exponentially.
Although it may be possible in a perfect world to rehabilitate a feral dog, it would be enormously costly in time and money. The dogs already in feral packs would have to be euthanised. This is difficult, time-consuming and expensive.
We have to prevent dogs turning feral in the first place. Sterilise all dogs and ensure that all domestic dogs are properly fed and housed.
STERILISED
The responsibility for feral dog attacks falls fairly and squarely on owners who do not sterilise or feed their dogs. Anyone who owns a dog which has bred and who has not cared for the resulting litters of puppies is responsible for the emergence of packs of feral dogs. If your dog is not sterilised, you are responsible for any litters of puppies that may be born, whether your dog is male or female.
We have domesticated dogs into dependence. We are responsible for them.
If you are not prepared to or can’t afford to sterilise your dog, don’t keep a dog.
If you don’t want your dog, take it to Swaziland Animal Welfare Society.
If you know of a pack of feral dogs, report them to the Veterinary Department, Police and SAWS before they kill another child.