What They Do to Strays in Mangalore (Relax, This is Good News)

April 18, 2001 Mangalore, Karnataka

Well, first of all, if you're anything like me, you're probably wondering where the heck is Mangalore?

So for the benefit of myself and all the other little miscreants who skipped out of Ms. Dumas's social studies class, let's have a one-paragraph catch-up lesson:

Mangalore is a port on the Arabian Sea, on the coast of Karnataka ("lofty land") in southwest India.  The region has a long and legendary history, having been occupied and influenced by the sultans, Arians, Portuguese, Germans, British, Dravidians, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Jainists... (did I leave anything out, Ms. Dumas?)

And, like just about every other city on earth, they have a huge problem with stray dogs.  Confronted with the issues of disease, dog-bites and the general human proclivity to panic, the authorities came up with two possible courses of action:

1. Shelter every stray dog; or
2. Kill every stray dog.

The first course would be impossible, and the second course would be just plain stupid.

Editor's note: Unlike most other cities in the world, Mangalore learned from the example set in the early 90's when the city of Surat instituted an extermination campaign; the canine population was significantly decreased, but as a result, the rodent population ballooned, leading to the fatal outbreak of the Bubonic Plague.

Are you listening, Bucharest?!

So here's what they did.  They built a hospital.

With the help of the Animal Care Trust, Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) has built a hospital—not for pets in general, but especially for stray dogs.

The hospital will treat strays, administering rabies vaccinations and performing sterilization.  The strays, once given a clean bill of health, will be returned to the localities where they were found.

Construction has just been completed, and the hospital will be fully-functional as soon as surgical equipment is bought, some time before the end of this month.

Indeed, this may sound like an ambitious—perhaps preposterous—strategy, but believe it or not, this policy is already widespread across India.

This article highlights just Mangalore, a town with a population of only 300,000, but identical action has been smoothly taking place in Bombay, Bangalore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Madras and New Delhi.

Right now, the biggest complaint they hear is that the "dog-catchers" sometimes bring the dogs back to the wrong spot.

Hmm, do you think they might consider starting a taxi cab service for dogs?

Related articles from around the web:
The First No-Kill City: Surprise, It's Not In America
(March 1998)

MCC to Build Hospital for Stray Dogs
(April 16, 2001)

§§§

^Articles