<sup>City Government Refuses to Euthanize Dogs, Despite Protests
- AND -
Giant Monkey Ghost Kills 3rd Victim</sup>

Saturday, May 19, 2001 - INDIA

PUNE & NEW DELHI — Have we got a treat for you!  Today's article is a double-dose of dog news all balled up into one.  Well, ok—the second feature is really about a monkey man, but that's close enough.

These two newsflashes have absolutely nothing to do with each other—or do they?

First of all, let's start with a little something to confuse you over your morning cup of coffee: in Pune, India, the municipal authorities have refused to kill stray dogs, while animal activists are pleading for a citywide extermination.

You read right; members of the group Stray Dog Free Bangalore (SDFB) have called upon city authorities to discontinue their current animal control policy of sterilizing strays and returning them to their neighborhoods.  The SDFB would prefer to euthanize the dogs instead.

Editor's note:  It has been brought to our attention by a Scoop reader in India that it is important not to confuse SDFB with legitimate animal welfare groups in the area.  Reportedly, SDFB represents only a human interest in animal population control, advocating extreme and violent measures of dealing with the problem.  This is the opposite of what animal welfare advocates have accomplished thus far (to familiarize yourself with India's bold, progressive animal policies, read the April 18 article "What they do to Strays" and visit the website: Animal Rights Fund).

This week, amid the heat of protests and demonstrations by the SDFB, Mayor Datta Gaikwad and Union Minister Maneka Gandhi kept their cool and stood fast by the city's no-kill policy.

But as with many other cities in the world, the panic and hysteria resulting from an isolated dog attack story is putting pressure on the authorities to exact human vengeance upon the entire population of dogs.

Ms. Maneka Gandhi, India's Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, told The Scoop recently:

"We have more or less stopped the dog killing in most of the cities in India, but every now and then there is a newspaper or magazine that does huge damage and then the city starts off all over again and then we stop it again .... and so on."

Recent claims were made late last month, purporting a rabies threat in the city of Pune, but these claims were investigated and dismissed by the city's chief health officer Dr. Anil Ravetkar.

Dr. Ravetkar announced, "Over the past year, not a single case of rabies has been reported in Pune city."

Accordingly, the current municipal administration has no intention of abandoning its progress, and thus, India (mostly a no-kill nation, many of whose citizens are vegetarians) remains at the forefront of the world's animal crusade.

Union Minister Gandhi, who herself has personally donated a considerable sum of money to the Blue Cross and their Animal Birth Control campaign, remains tentatively optimistic.  She added:

"But there is no doubt that we are the only country in the world to have reached this far."

We have also last month stopped dissection in schools, started a Vegetarian/Non vegetarian labeling on all foods, won our case to ban wild animals in circuses and this was only last month.

"We are the only country in the world to have a ministry for animal welfare (it has just been invented) as part of social welfare and we give government grants for sterilisation, for setting up shelters and buying animal rescue vehicles.

"There is huge amount to be done still but yes, we are on some kind of organised track."

Despite the sporadic outbursts of public hysteria and occasional anti-dog sentiment that infects the people, it seems that the powers in charge of this one city will maintain and promote some sensibility.

Related articles from The Times of India:
PMC Not in Favour of Killing Stray Dogs
Animal Activists Condone Killing Street Dogs

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