20 dogs sterilised, to be sent back to Sitapur
Lucknow Municipal Corporation to start catching dogs from places where canine menace is reported
LUCKNOW :The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) sterilised 20 feral dogs at the Kanha Upvan which were brought from Sitapur. These canines will be shifted back to the place from where they were picked up, said Dr Arvind Rao, chief veterinary officer, LMC.
He said the LMC is soon going to start catching dogs from the places where canine menace is reported while a global tender would also be floated for sterilisation of dogs in the city. Dr Rao said, “Dog population cannot be controlled if NGOs interfere in the work of the municipal corporation. We have sought solutions from them to tackle dog menace, but they come up with bizarre suggestions. They ask people to feed the dogs and move in groups.” Kamna Pandey, animal rights activist, said: “Dogs are not hunting animals, they are scavenging animals. They never attack anyone, even if hungry. So blaming the dogs for attacks is unjustified.”
She said, “The normal street dogs form a protective barrier for humans in case of attack from a pack of hyenas or a pack of specific dogs.” “If these normal dogs are killed or removed, the villagers, particularly children, will be more vulnerable to attacks in Sitapur,” she said. “The authorities are doing nothing to curb killings of harmless dogs. They have not taken any steps to spread awareness regarding the importance of normal dogs,” she added.
HYENAS GO FOR JUGULAR VEIN: ACTIVIST
Animal rights activists have rejected reports of dogs killing kids in Sitapur villages. They blame hyenas for that. “Eyewitness account points more towards hyenas. Unlike normal village dogs, they run faster, their jaws open wider and they have a more ‘bite-force’ which can break bones,” said animal rights activist Kamna Pandey. “They follow their leader and run behind him, whereas dogs have a tendency of dispersing in all directions, when chased,” she emphasised.
While attacking humans, dogs catch hold of heels or legs but hyenas go for the neck, the way a wild animal goes for the jugular vein in the neck, she added.