‘Learn to live with street dogs’

‘Please learn to live with street dogs, love them, respect motherhood in animals and don’t tease expecting female dogs.’ These are parts of the advisory that has been issued by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation for

residents, to avoid cases of god bites in the area.

‘The citizens of Delhi should understand that East DMC cannot eliminate street dogs from their area and that it is their responsibility to take care of the strays in their locality,’ said the advisory, issued by the department of veterinary services in East DMC under its rabies control programme. ‘Citizens should respect dogs and bond with them because they are man’s best friends. Let’s pledge to eradicate rabies and not the dogs,’ added the leaflet. 

The department has also listed ‘expectations’ from citizens in this regard, which includes, ‘don’t tease or excite dogs in any way during the breeding season, don’t tease a mother  and her puppies. Get the strays vaccinated in any government or recognised veterinary agency.’ ‘This is a part of the public awareness campaign so that people can avoid dog bite,’ said Y S Mann, spokesperson of East DMC.

Surprisingly, a programme to control population of stray dogs through sterilisation was started in 2003, in which Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had aimed to contain the problem of street dogs by controlling their population.