The kingdom of Bhutan sets a good example.
Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lotay Tshering has recently asked people to adopt a stray dog as a gift for his birthday. His birthday is on the 10th of May. He has urged people to adopt a stray dog, or plant a tree. or commit to managing waste in their neighbourhood.
Bhutan implements spay/neuter and vaccine campaigns
With intervention from The Humane Society International, Bhutan has implemented a nationwide spay/neuter and vaccine program for stray dog population management and rabies elimination.
Presently when the animal welfare officers or dog-catchers go around places, they take picture of the stray dogs and then add it on the Global Positioning System (GPS). The dog is caught and then taken to an animal shelter after which the information about the dog is updated post sterilization operation and anti-rabies vaccination, and the dog is released back in the same location from where it was picked up.
A brutal history of treatment
In the 1970s, the rampant killing of stray dogs in Bhutan led to other problems like overpopulation of rats. The rabies cases still did not go down. Since 2009, due to successful sterilization by a stray dog programme in Bhutan, there has been a drastic reduction in rabies cases and the overall stray dog population.
Bhutan is also working on bringing in technology to track the success of stray dog population control measures with mobiles apps- mass dog vaccination and dog population management. This will help officials monitor their team’s work and have access to information like the number of neutered dogs.
How you can be a part of the change
This the need of the hour in all countries. Successful stray dog sterilization programs can only effectively control the population of stray dogs in the long run and provide complete elimination of rabies. And this is the only way to reduce the suffering of the stray dogs on the streets where they are killed, maimed, raped, burned with acid, and suffer so many other kinds of abuses each day.
If you consider yourself a dog lover then please make sure you contribute in any way possible to stray dog sterilization programs run by government organizations or NGOs in your neighbourhood.
