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| Sunday, 28 August 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Rabies, dogs
and man
by Malsiri Dias Despite the media blitz about the new no kill policy dogs are being rounded up and gassed and poisoned to death. There is a sense of hopelessness among dog lovers on their ability to stop the sad fate of homeless puppies and dogs, of dogs being slowly and painfully gassed to death in the dog hound. The Animal Welfare and Protection Association (AWPA) operates two transit homes for dogs and cats in the Colombo district. The facilities, one in Dehiwala, and one in Kahatuduwa, are totally inadequate to deal with the task of providing shelter for homeless puppies given the magnitude of the problem. We get calls for help everyday and we find puppies abandoned outside our walls daily. Currently we have 40 puppies and 120 dogs in Dehiwala and 11 puppies and 109 dogs in Kahatuduwa. And we are doing this work without a cent of foreign funds; the money comes from here, from friends, well-wishers and fund raisers - like the Musical Evening we are having on September 3, at 7pm at the Bishop's College Auditorium. It is important to effect policy changes and it is important to educate the society. But these take time. We have to do something now, for the homeless ones, who will die, if we do not give them shelter and protection. That is why we have given priority to this task; but our effort is not enough. Just as it is better to light one candle than to rail against darkness, it is important to provide a shelter for even a few puppies now, until the necessary policy changes take effect. A humane solution to the rabies problem A country without rabies, which at the same time does not murder its homeless dogs may seem like an utopia. However many things which we accept as basic rights today were considered impossible in the past. Rabies is a problem, a major problem. It has to be contained and eliminated. That is unarguable. Animal welfare organisations and dog lovers should cooperate in this regard with the relevant government authorities. The point of contention is the method of containing rabies. The answer is not to kill dogs. The World Health Organisation has maintained time and again that killing dogs is not an effective answer to the problem of rabies. Other ways, better ways, more effective ways, ways which are in accordance with our humanity have to be found. Alcohol and cigarettes are greater health hazards than rabies; they kill and damage more human lives than rabies do.Alcohol and cigarettes are allowed, they are not banned because they enable some people, including governments, to make money. Homeless dogs are killed because their presence is not profitable for anyone. Even when killing is not the solution, even when much better alternatives are available, they are not taken into consideration because homeless dogs have neither votes nor money. Our main problem with the new Rabies Elimination Act is that it permits, even condones killing; of course this license to kill is covered with a lot of reasonable and humane sounding jargon; but the underlying truth is that it justifies the use of murder of innocent dogs as a method of containing rabies. It is comparable to a piece of legislation or policy that permits the reasonable use of torture as a method of containing violent crime! Killing is wrong. It contravenes human values and religious principles, irrespective of what our religion may be. And once we justify the use of killing as a way of controlling rabies, once we get used to the idea, we will never be able to get out of that mindset; it will become normal, a part of the society's 'common sense'. That is the main danger we see in this Act, it makes killing normal. And once society gets used to the idea, once our children get used to the idea it will become something unchangeable. The answer is to develop a humane approach to the problem of rabies: * The controlling of dog population through sterilisation. This is possible using the available financial and human resources and with the participation of the government, local government authorities and animal welfare organisations. We may even be able to obtain considerable international assistance for such a programme. I suggest we begin it as a pilot programme in one or several municipalities and then, taking into account the experiences gained thereof, generalise it, within a specified time period. The assistance of government vets can be obtained for this task (presently their role is limited to the caring of farm animals). Currently the task of containing rabies is allocated to medical officers who are more concerned with saving people rather than dogs. * A community based programme to immunise dogs; this perhaps can be carried out as a prelude to or together with a sterilisation programme in low income neighbourhoods, with the participation of all interested parties. * Community education. This is particularly important in ensuring the humane treatment of not only dogs but all animals. Children should be taught to respect the right to life of all living beings. Such an approach is important in developing a non-violent society in the future. The next generation has to be taught that violence, the taking of life - be it human or animal - is not the answer to any problem. * The opening of more shelters for homeless animals. This can be done as a joint effort by the local government authorities and animal welfare organisations. Just as we have shelters for orphaned children and elderly people together with legislation to protect their rights, we need to have shelters for animals as much as we need legislation to protect them. Both are equally important. Multifaceted problems need multifaceted solutions. One last word to people with dogs: get your dogs, especially female dogs sterilised. What is sinful is not to prevent female dogs from conceiving puppies but allowing them to conceive and give birth to puppies, and then after a couple of weeks abandoning them - especially the female ones - in some street corner or near a garbage dump. That is irresponsible and inhumane. |
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