STRAY DOGS AROUND ME

It is not just humans that fill the pavements, the great many of society are street dogs and there is so much part of life here; they go virtually unnoticed. Thousands of puppies are born on the street every year unwanted and uncared. They are left to scavenge what they can from piles of rubbish found around the streets. These dogs grow up and in turn produce more unwanted puppies contributing to an ever-growing street dog population.

It is estimated 300-500 of stray dogs in my municipality. They are also called as free roaming dogs/ community dogs. There is not exact population of stray dog recorded in my society. This is because there are various sources that leads the increasing number of unowned dogs. Owned dogs that roam freely, or abandoned by their owner; including puppies resulting from uncontrolled breeding from owned dogs. Unowned dogs are also reproduced successfully.

Street dogs, some of which are adopted as community dogs, play a major role as a guard of the society especially in night. However, there are many problems associated which finally leads to ignorance and death of them too. The people of settlement, their domestic animals and pets, and properties are at the risk of injury and destruction. It is the children are most at risk. It is found that street dogs are also a major factor increasing road accidents. Sometimes, some of the fatal diseases like Rabies, Distemper and flukes are reserved and transmitted via them; which can bring a human and other animal to the brink of death. Sound pollution (in night), pollution from their excreta and urinals; and their fight may irritate the human and animals.

As a veterinarian, I have performed some works to minimize stray dog population in my society and some parts of Nepal. There has been some effort in recent ties in order to sterilize stray dogs by government, NGOs & INGOs and private sectors but there is a lot more to be done. Annually we lunch stray animal vaccination program on Rabies day but it is not sure that every stray populations are vaccinated regularly. I love to volunteer in dog shelter and usually save some foods for dogs around my home. We can adopt instead of buying a new dog. This will help to reduce stray number and will be a kind of help to breeding dogs in breeding center who are forced to. Local bodies have to understand their situation and lunch some effective plans and regulations to save them. Some of the efforts we can do as a responsible human being are:

·         Adopt rather than shop

·         Be a responsible pet parent

·         Help in adopt events/ vaccination

·         Volunteer in shelter/ campaigns

·         Donate the necessities

·         Be kind to stray animals

·         Educate family and friends.