No respite from Stray Dog menace

Four Legged Terrorists
 Syed Nazneen
 Human rights violations, social tensions, educational pressure, so on and so forth.
 Life has never been bed of roses for common people in Kashmir as state terrorism prevails here.
One more terrorism has added to the list. This terrorism is created by none other than four legged creatures. These   four legged creatures that have been terrorizing everyone from a child to grown-ups for decades now are commonly known as stray dogs. Packs of stray dogs could be seen moving around freely in almost all the city localities.
There have been fatal incidents of dog bite in the Valley. With some 8,000 to 10,000 stray dogs, cases of dog bites received by the Valley hospitals has become a daily affair, with children and women being the main victims. To add to the woes of the city residents, the civic bodies have been dilly-dallying on the issue on one pretext or the other.
Besides causing damage to property and creating insanitary conditions, these animals occasionally attacked and injured children and even grownups. There had been at least half a dozen incidents alone in the Lalbazar area in the recent past when dogs had mauled the children in different colonies.
Dogs are called highly territorial animals in scientific terms. Being territorial animal these creatures mark their territory and won’t allow anyone to invade their boundaries. If someone does cross into their territory they become highly aggressive and prefer to attack, especially if the intruder appears weak target. The stray animals, moving around freely both in the residential and commercial areas, pose a serious threat to public health. As far as action against stray dogs was concerned, no headway had been made so far.
The municipal waste bins prove to be the thriving grounds for these dogs. There is every chance of getting rabies as early action against stray dogs has never been taken by the local administration.
 People have made several appeals to the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, but they turn deaf ear to their problems. Hundreds of men, women and children become victims of dog bites in the city every day. Nevertheless, who cares to put an end to the menace?
Who thinks of small kids who leave early in the morning to buy some bread from a local bakery and on their way back are ruthlessly attacked by the highly territorial monsters?
 What about our sisters or our parents who are too weak to defend themselves against the pack of dogs. I am sure every one of us would have at least one incident in our area where someone has been if not bitten at least forced to run for his life. Not distant back, an incident took place in the area of Lal Bazaar at 9.00am when a woman was bitten severely by stray dogs while she was going for a routine walk.
In another incident a girl was bitten and left struggling for her life. I myself have witnessed an incident when a young boy was attacked by these ruthless creatures. Had he not found shelter in a house nearby he would have been chewed raw? Nothing seems to calm the aggressive behaviour of the local dogs. They don't need to be provoked to attack. Attacking seems to have become their natural behaviour.
God has ordered us not to violate the rights of any animal. Nevertheless, he also said saving one’s life should be the first priority. Even in the developed countries like America, Canada, and Australia, if animals are found creating threats to the humans it’s eliminated at that very moment. Even the endangered animals like bears or tigers are hunted down if they cause any harm to any individual. Or they are moved to some other location away from the human habitation.
Usually, dogs are moved to dog enclosures so that there is no clash between the humans and dogs. Worse, there is no such system of ‘dog enclosures’ in Kashmir. Had we ever set-up monitoring committee for census of dogs and to chalk out the modalities for dealing with stray dogs.
 Has anybody ever seen a dog carrier/catcher in his whole life in Kashmir? Srinagar Municipal Corporation’ is in no mood to check this menace. Who cares to put an end to the menace?