Slum dogs, rabies and Pamela
January 16th 2009 21:46
Pamela Anderson and her pet dog
Authorities in central Mumbai, India, locked into a bitter battle against deadly rabies and the estimated 70,000 stray dogs that help spread it, didn't ask for Pamela Anderson's opinion on the problem.
But they got it this week when Anderson made headlines with her catchy appraisal of the situation: "Dogs don't wear condoms".
It's a dream line in terms of highlighting the problem and appealing to the authorities to come down on the side of humanity in their decision-making.
Those authorities are considering a program of mass eradication of the dogs, sparking an outcry from many quarters, including Celebrityville, who advocate a program of sterilisation instead.
The problem is huge. There are so many stray dogs because they thrive in the city's slums, where they are kept as pets of sorts by the slum dwellers and where freely accessible piles of garbage provide food.
The problem has been around since British colonial times, when mass killing of the animals was introduced. It was stopped in the early 1990s when it was decided that the eradication program was not achieving, well, eradication. In fact it was deemed "ineffective" in controlling the dog population and reducing human rabies deaths.
Meanwhile, sterilisation programs were introduced, mainly through the charity Welfare of Stray Dogs, which has been carrying out mass sterilisation since 1989.
Pamela Anderson's letter to the Mumbai authorities cites support for mass sterilisation from the World Health Organization, the Animal Health Board of India, and the activist group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
It was PETA which publicised Anderson's letter. Its chief executive, Abodh Aras, said, "It’s not only Pamela Anderson but a lot of children have also been writing to the commission saying that one should have the policy of sterilisation rather than killing stray dogs.
“Killing has proved to be ineffective in terms of bringing down the stray dog population and human rabies death. It’s not just from the dog point of view but also from the human point of view.”
The sterilisation isn't working either, which is why the authorities are now seeking legal permission to return to the mass killing program stopped almost 20 years ago.
Perhaps if they put the same energy, and government resources, into sterilisation efforts, instead of leaving it to charity groups and concerned citizens, we would actually see some progress.
Agence France Presse
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