The stray
‘Stray’ is a general term given to any domestic animal found roaming freely without human supervision.
In many countries the majority of stray animals have been abandoned by their owners or are owned but allowed to roam freely. The unsupervised dogs then breed, resulting in unwanted puppies. Strays depend on humans for most of their essential resources, such as food, although this may be found indirectly from rubbish discarded by humans. Because of this dependence on humans, stray animals are found roaming within and around human settlements.
Life on the streets is hard - stray dogs fight over the limited amounts of food and that which can be scavenged. Injuries sustained this way are rarely treated. Tumors, skin infections and open sores are common for stray dogs. Over three quarters of puppies in developing countries die in agony from diseases including rabies and distemper.
Conflict with humans and public health
Stray animals can become a problem for many reasons: they carry diseases that can be passed to humans and other animals (such as rabies), they can cause road accidents, harass and attack citizens, damage property and pollute the environment. They are often seen as a nuisance and health hazard by the people who live alongside them, resulting in persecution by humans in the form of cruelty, abuse and inhumane methods of killing. The dogs are treated as nothing more than a vermin to be exterminated.
Population control
Dogs follow their basic instincts and breed to propagate their species. Humans can make the decision to control their own population, and they have also been given the gift of taking responsibility for dogs. Sadly some people see that responsibility as a power to kill unwanted dogs sometimes in the most inhumane of ways. This has been proved ineffective as a method of population control because the vacuum left is soon filled by other dogs from surrounding areas who move in to utilise the resources available, or by the existing dogs using these resources to raise more puppies.
Trap-neuter-return (TNR) is the only effective method to control and reduce animal over-population.
In many countries the majority of stray animals have been abandoned by their owners or are owned but allowed to roam freely. The unsupervised dogs then breed, resulting in unwanted puppies. Strays depend on humans for most of their essential resources, such as food, although this may be found indirectly from rubbish discarded by humans. Because of this dependence on humans, stray animals are found roaming within and around human settlements.
Life on the streets is hard - stray dogs fight over the limited amounts of food and that which can be scavenged. Injuries sustained this way are rarely treated. Tumors, skin infections and open sores are common for stray dogs. Over three quarters of puppies in developing countries die in agony from diseases including rabies and distemper.
Conflict with humans and public health
Stray animals can become a problem for many reasons: they carry diseases that can be passed to humans and other animals (such as rabies), they can cause road accidents, harass and attack citizens, damage property and pollute the environment. They are often seen as a nuisance and health hazard by the people who live alongside them, resulting in persecution by humans in the form of cruelty, abuse and inhumane methods of killing. The dogs are treated as nothing more than a vermin to be exterminated.
Population control
Dogs follow their basic instincts and breed to propagate their species. Humans can make the decision to control their own population, and they have also been given the gift of taking responsibility for dogs. Sadly some people see that responsibility as a power to kill unwanted dogs sometimes in the most inhumane of ways. This has been proved ineffective as a method of population control because the vacuum left is soon filled by other dogs from surrounding areas who move in to utilise the resources available, or by the existing dogs using these resources to raise more puppies.
Trap-neuter-return (TNR) is the only effective method to control and reduce animal over-population.
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Trap-Neuter-Release
The World Health Organization’s Technical Report Series 931 clearly states:
“Since the 1960s, ABC programs coupled with rabies vaccination have been advocated as a method to control urban dog population and rabie. Culling of dogs during these progams will be counterproductive as sterilized, vaccinated dogs may be destroyed.”
Efficacy of ABC+AR as a method of population and rabies control is not an uncertain fact.
Facts are:
• Empirical evidence in the US indicates that dog rabies is eliminated when 80% of the dog population ≥ 4 months or 70% of the total dog population is vaccinated (WHO, 2004).
• In Jodhpur, Rajasthan, ABC+AR studies have confirmed that the 80% threshold of vaccination coverage in the stray dog population is achievable.
• In Chennai ABC+AR started in 1996, from 2005 onwards there are 0 rabies incidents (100% achievement in 9 yrs)
• In Jaipur ABC+AR started in 1997, from 2001 onwards there are 0 rabies incidents (100% achievement in 4 yrs)
• In Mexico, human rabies cases declined to zero within ten years since mass vaccination of dogs started (Lucas et al., 2008).
• ABC+AR programs are expected to take 13-18 yrs for stabilization, or 5-7 years for a smaller population. Culling as a method of population and rabies control does not work. WHO recognises that slaughter often produces a short term effect but even maximal catching rates (up to 24% of dog population per year) make no significant impact in the dog population. Here are some facts:
• Sao Paolo, Brazil: Till 1997, 300 dogs were killed every day in a decompression chamber with an increase in dog population.
• Naples, Italy: Till 1991, 5000 strays were caught and killed every year with no change in dog population
• Chennai, India: Culling started in 1860 when one dog was killed everyday and by 1995, 135 dogs were killed everyday. Yet the city’s stray dog population and the incidence of human rabies continued to rise.
• Bangalore, India: From 1936 to 1999 Bangalore City Corporation’s chose a strategy of electrocuting stray dogs to death and vaccinating pet dogs with neural issue vaccine. 25 million stray dogs were killed but the population of stray dogs, and the number of dog bites and human rabies cases, continued to increase
• Hong Kong: Till 1990 approximately 33,000 dogs were killed every year, with no impact on population
• East Europe: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan Republic, Moldova and Ukraine cull by shooting at sight, and in all countries numbers of stray dogs had either increased or remained constant.
The reason culling cannot not work is it is impossible for municipality to catch and kill every stray animal within 2 months, the length of pregnancy of dogs. The surviving dogs will do their very best to refill the territory by producing young. Even with 3 surviving pregnant females it is possible for dogs to regain their present population of 183,000 in 4-5 yrs!
Consider this:
• Every year approximately 500,000 people in India receive the post-exposure prophylaxis vaccinations (5 shots) at Rs. 1500 per vaccination. One dose of vaccine to vaccinate a dog against rabies is Rs. 25. 30 million dogs could be vaccinated with the amount of money that is spent on human rabies post exposure prophylaxis. The stray dog population in India is estimated to be something between 8-20 million dogs. If there is continued incidence of ‘stray dog bites’ is it not the companies that make human vaccines that benefit the most?
• An epidemiological study of rabies in Bangalore by M K Sudarshan, Savitha Nagaraj, B Savitha and S G Veena (Journal of Indian Medical Association Vol 93) says that rabies deaths from ‘BMP areas’ dropped from 95 (in 1975) to 20 (in 2000) and thereafter to 0 (in 2005).
• In an area where there is a balance between the number of incoming animals and losses through adoption and natural death, it might be possible for dogs to be housed, but
• In an area where the incoming numbers exceed the numbers lost to adoption and natural death, there will be too many animals to provide satisfactory living conditions for them. So the call for moving is nothing better than a call for culling.
• Taking Bangalore as an example, at the time of the Great Bangalore Dog Cull of 2007, of the total dog population (327280 dogs), Strays were 56.15% (183758 dogs) and Pet dogs were 43.85% (143522 dogs) – so pet dogs are a significant population, and in a large part not nuetered or vaccinated. • In 2003-2004 the percentage of dog bites in BBMP areas from strays was 55% and in 2007-2008 it dropped to 52.99% , but in 2009-2010 it has risen to 62% of total bites. How can culling be called a solution when in the immediate aftermath Great Bangalore Dog Cull of 2007 the stray dog bites rose by 20% in 2 yrs?
• ABC programs had started in a small way in 1995, but when in 2000-2001 it came into effect a total of 12,250 dogs were caught at zero budgeted cost. Over the last 10 yrs the average cost of a dog caught has been Rs 327, but this cost rose alarmingly from Rs 313/dog to Rs 418/dog (a rise of 33%) in 1 year of the Great Bangalore Dog Cull of 2007. So catching dogs and killing them was more expensive than the ABC+AR programs.
• In 2009-10 (upto Mar’2010) considering the amount of payout per dog at Rs 500, the total payout of Rs 2.59 crores is made by BBMP to AWOs when the expense occurred was Rs 1.05 crores. Clearly this is case of misplaced, even loaded priorities. But also clearly there are proven solutions for the stray dog population and rabies control.
• Garbage disposal: A zero-garbage state would be an excellent benefit for the citizens in many ways, including the fact that stray dogs would go down dramatically if there was nothing for them to eat on the roads.
• An observational report from the Wellington Cantonment, Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, by the Health Superintendent in 2010, states that since door-to-door collection of garbage in the civilian area of the Cantonment started the dog population that used be very large has drastically declined.
• Replacing dogs as scavengers and not clearing garbage has its own perils. If all dogs are eliminated by any method, their place will be taken over by another species e.g. rats, monkeys, cats or pigs. All of them will carry their own risks for public health.
• Intramuscular AR Vaccine: Using the intramuscular AR vaccine provides protection for up to 41 months, for most strays this period will exceed their lifetime (Coyne and others, 2001)
• Oral rabies vaccine: Oral rabies vaccine baits can be used in areas where it is difficult to achieve an adequate vaccination coverage by injectable vaccines only Many citizens, governments and activists cite the stray free streets of Singapore, Stockholm, San Francisco or Sydney as Indian model. But these are not the result of indiscriminate killing of thousands of dogs but a fact that the problem has never risen to the extent because of different sanitary and ecological conditions, dog licensing programs, public education for responsible ownership.
Source
“Since the 1960s, ABC programs coupled with rabies vaccination have been advocated as a method to control urban dog population and rabie. Culling of dogs during these progams will be counterproductive as sterilized, vaccinated dogs may be destroyed.”
Efficacy of ABC+AR as a method of population and rabies control is not an uncertain fact.
Facts are:
• Empirical evidence in the US indicates that dog rabies is eliminated when 80% of the dog population ≥ 4 months or 70% of the total dog population is vaccinated (WHO, 2004).
• In Jodhpur, Rajasthan, ABC+AR studies have confirmed that the 80% threshold of vaccination coverage in the stray dog population is achievable.
• In Chennai ABC+AR started in 1996, from 2005 onwards there are 0 rabies incidents (100% achievement in 9 yrs)
• In Jaipur ABC+AR started in 1997, from 2001 onwards there are 0 rabies incidents (100% achievement in 4 yrs)
• In Mexico, human rabies cases declined to zero within ten years since mass vaccination of dogs started (Lucas et al., 2008).
• ABC+AR programs are expected to take 13-18 yrs for stabilization, or 5-7 years for a smaller population. Culling as a method of population and rabies control does not work. WHO recognises that slaughter often produces a short term effect but even maximal catching rates (up to 24% of dog population per year) make no significant impact in the dog population. Here are some facts:
• Sao Paolo, Brazil: Till 1997, 300 dogs were killed every day in a decompression chamber with an increase in dog population.
• Naples, Italy: Till 1991, 5000 strays were caught and killed every year with no change in dog population
• Chennai, India: Culling started in 1860 when one dog was killed everyday and by 1995, 135 dogs were killed everyday. Yet the city’s stray dog population and the incidence of human rabies continued to rise.
• Bangalore, India: From 1936 to 1999 Bangalore City Corporation’s chose a strategy of electrocuting stray dogs to death and vaccinating pet dogs with neural issue vaccine. 25 million stray dogs were killed but the population of stray dogs, and the number of dog bites and human rabies cases, continued to increase
• Hong Kong: Till 1990 approximately 33,000 dogs were killed every year, with no impact on population
• East Europe: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan Republic, Moldova and Ukraine cull by shooting at sight, and in all countries numbers of stray dogs had either increased or remained constant.
The reason culling cannot not work is it is impossible for municipality to catch and kill every stray animal within 2 months, the length of pregnancy of dogs. The surviving dogs will do their very best to refill the territory by producing young. Even with 3 surviving pregnant females it is possible for dogs to regain their present population of 183,000 in 4-5 yrs!
Consider this:
• Every year approximately 500,000 people in India receive the post-exposure prophylaxis vaccinations (5 shots) at Rs. 1500 per vaccination. One dose of vaccine to vaccinate a dog against rabies is Rs. 25. 30 million dogs could be vaccinated with the amount of money that is spent on human rabies post exposure prophylaxis. The stray dog population in India is estimated to be something between 8-20 million dogs. If there is continued incidence of ‘stray dog bites’ is it not the companies that make human vaccines that benefit the most?
• An epidemiological study of rabies in Bangalore by M K Sudarshan, Savitha Nagaraj, B Savitha and S G Veena (Journal of Indian Medical Association Vol 93) says that rabies deaths from ‘BMP areas’ dropped from 95 (in 1975) to 20 (in 2000) and thereafter to 0 (in 2005).
• In an area where there is a balance between the number of incoming animals and losses through adoption and natural death, it might be possible for dogs to be housed, but
• In an area where the incoming numbers exceed the numbers lost to adoption and natural death, there will be too many animals to provide satisfactory living conditions for them. So the call for moving is nothing better than a call for culling.
• Taking Bangalore as an example, at the time of the Great Bangalore Dog Cull of 2007, of the total dog population (327280 dogs), Strays were 56.15% (183758 dogs) and Pet dogs were 43.85% (143522 dogs) – so pet dogs are a significant population, and in a large part not nuetered or vaccinated. • In 2003-2004 the percentage of dog bites in BBMP areas from strays was 55% and in 2007-2008 it dropped to 52.99% , but in 2009-2010 it has risen to 62% of total bites. How can culling be called a solution when in the immediate aftermath Great Bangalore Dog Cull of 2007 the stray dog bites rose by 20% in 2 yrs?
• ABC programs had started in a small way in 1995, but when in 2000-2001 it came into effect a total of 12,250 dogs were caught at zero budgeted cost. Over the last 10 yrs the average cost of a dog caught has been Rs 327, but this cost rose alarmingly from Rs 313/dog to Rs 418/dog (a rise of 33%) in 1 year of the Great Bangalore Dog Cull of 2007. So catching dogs and killing them was more expensive than the ABC+AR programs.
• In 2009-10 (upto Mar’2010) considering the amount of payout per dog at Rs 500, the total payout of Rs 2.59 crores is made by BBMP to AWOs when the expense occurred was Rs 1.05 crores. Clearly this is case of misplaced, even loaded priorities. But also clearly there are proven solutions for the stray dog population and rabies control.
• Garbage disposal: A zero-garbage state would be an excellent benefit for the citizens in many ways, including the fact that stray dogs would go down dramatically if there was nothing for them to eat on the roads.
• An observational report from the Wellington Cantonment, Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, by the Health Superintendent in 2010, states that since door-to-door collection of garbage in the civilian area of the Cantonment started the dog population that used be very large has drastically declined.
• Replacing dogs as scavengers and not clearing garbage has its own perils. If all dogs are eliminated by any method, their place will be taken over by another species e.g. rats, monkeys, cats or pigs. All of them will carry their own risks for public health.
• Intramuscular AR Vaccine: Using the intramuscular AR vaccine provides protection for up to 41 months, for most strays this period will exceed their lifetime (Coyne and others, 2001)
• Oral rabies vaccine: Oral rabies vaccine baits can be used in areas where it is difficult to achieve an adequate vaccination coverage by injectable vaccines only Many citizens, governments and activists cite the stray free streets of Singapore, Stockholm, San Francisco or Sydney as Indian model. But these are not the result of indiscriminate killing of thousands of dogs but a fact that the problem has never risen to the extent because of different sanitary and ecological conditions, dog licensing programs, public education for responsible ownership.
Source
The organisation 'Dogs Trust' created a very comprehensive document that guides
anyone, anywhere, through setting up a TNR scheme.
You can read all about TNR and download this template from www.tnrdogs.com
