Culling of stray dogs has been stopped, Rabies Control Programme tells SHC

Culling of stray dogs in Sindh has been stopped while neutering, vaccinating and spaying of around 125,000 stray dogs in the province will be completed by June 2025, the Rabies Control Programme (RCP) project director told the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday.

Filing a compliance report before the court on a petition calling for the control of the population of stray dogs and availability of free anti-rabies vaccine, RCP Project Director Sumera Hussain submitted that the RCP had been working diligently for the control of rabies.

She submitted that the RCP had planned to establish rabies vaccination centres (RVCs) in 20 districts of the province for neutering, vaccinating and spaying 125,000 stray dogs, carrying out baseline survey for stray dogs population management and establishing mechanism for reporting dogs bites. She added that the RCP would use mobile applications as well as hold consultations with non-governmental organisations to achieve its goals.

She submitted that so far, four RVC centres had been set up in Karachi, and sites for three more RVCs had also been identified which would be completed by May 2024. The SHC was informed that 13 more RVCs in as many districts would be established by the end of December 2024 subject to availability of funds.

The officer said that around 8,000 stray dogs had been spayed and neutered. She added that mass vaccination of 17,000 dogs had been completed and 25,000 more stray dogs would be vaccinated by June 2024. She said that culling of stray dogs had been stopped immediately as the RCP only dealt with the vaccination of stray dogs.

She also clarified that the vaccination of humans bitten by dogs did not come under the purview of the RCP. The petitioner, M Tariq Mansoor, sought time to examine the report. He submitted that efforts which were reflected in the report were not visible on ground as a large number of patients of dog bites had been approaching hospitals.

The program officer submitted that they were working continuously on the project and trying to implement the same. She said there was delay in process due to paucity of funds and as soon the funds were released, they would expedite the programme so that there was no incident of dog bite on streets.

A division bench of the high court headed by SHC Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi directed a provincial law officer to approach the relevant ministry for the purpose of regular release of funds meant for the RCP so that there shall be no impediment in the implementation of the programme as the matter related to the public at large.

The bench also directed the authorities to ensure that a dedicated helpline for dog bite and stray dogs cases was operational within one week and told the relevant officials to submit a compliance report by March 28.

The petitioner had filed an application with regard to non-implementation of court orders in the stray dogs case and submitted that the dog bite incidents were on the rise in the province and over 2,00,000 such cases had been reported in Sindh in 2022, including 26,000 cases in Karachi.

He said the helpline 1093 created by the Sindh government for receiving complaints of stray dogs and dog bite incidents had been dysfunctional. He requested the high court to direct the local government department to submit a report on the RCP’s performance of the previous two years.