Should street dogs be helped or killed
Street dogs are a normal part of everyday life in Kampala. But it seems that KCC thinks they are a nuisance.
Kampala City Council is this month implementing its campaign to eliminate stray dogs and cats in the various city divisions says Dr. Livingstone Makanga, Director of Health Services in Kampala City.
Last month, KCC put up a notice advising pet owners to keep them in their homes to avoid eating poison that will be dropped by the city council veterinary staff in various locations across the city.
“Many of our residents no longer care for their pets which have led to an increasing number of stray dogs and cats on the streets which have spread in the various city divisions,” Explained Dr. Makanga.
According to the District Health Director this activity is not new. “We poison the animals with a chemical called strychnine which paralyses them and later kills them. When we are going to carry out that activity we normally advise the residents to keep their pets confined to avoid eating the poisoned baits scattered by our staff,” explained Dr. Makanga.
He said when baits have been set, KCC staff monitor the areas and collect the carcasses of the affected animals in the morning and take them for burial in Kiteezi.
The Uganda Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (USPCA) is opposed to to what they terms as the “brutal” method used by the authorities to kill the animals.
A founding member of the organization Katia Ruiz Allard says the animals should instead be controlled by planning their reproductive lifestyle and keeping them in a friendly manner with proper feeding.
“It is a slow, terrible death which should not be subjected to these animals. Increases in animal population can be controlled to avoid unwanted puppies or kittens that are most times thrown to the streets growing into the stray animals,” Katia explained.
Part of the mandate of the USPCA is to offer free or low-cost spaying and neutering of pets and animals.
“It is a fact that when an animal is mistreated, not fed or kept under lock and key especially dogs, they become violent and any opportunity they get they will seek freedom. This is how many of these dogs get violent and turn to the streets because of mistreatment by their masters,” she explained.
She says the public should be sensitized on how to keep their animals in a friendly environment and get them to be vaccinated at least once a year to avoid diseases like rabies.
USPCA, the voice for animals in Uganda was founded in 1997 and currently has a shelter where needy dogs and cats are housed though to a limited scale due to lack of funding. The shelter is run on donations from the public and abandoned pets are kept there until a new home is found for them.
The KCC campaign which started early last month has delayed due to lack of logistics but the exercise is due to start after the notice and acquisition of the funds.
Dr. Makanga says this exercise is done to control the spread of rabies which is especially transmitted from stray dogs to human beings through a bite and the disease is fatal. “Once you get rabies, chances to survival are rare because 90% of the victims die hence the reason for doing the periodic controls.”
However, Dr. Makanga would not commit himself to the number of cases of rabies reported in Kampala district as a result of these animals biting people.
by Ole Tangen
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I agree that there are too many stray dogs in Kampala, but to kill them by poisoning is not the right method. The number of dogs has increased because people do not take good care of them by vaccinating them annually, and do not bother to have them spayed or sterilized. Also ex-pats are to be blaimed for the many roaming dogs as most of them leave their pets behind when their assignment in Uganda is terminated.
Wow. I am absolutely appalled that this is the way stray animal populations are “controlled” in Uganda. I love your country, my partner and his family are from there (still live there) and one day I plan to as well, but this is shocking! I understand that stray dogs can be a problem – although, in all honesty, most of the strays I saw were fearful of humans, wouldn’t come anywhere near us! However, poisoning them, especially with strychnine, is not the way to go.
Strychnine is a terrible poison, it is even banned in some countries because it is so inhumane. It starts by causing a break down of the nervous system, resulting in convulsions which steadily become more severe. Death occurs from asphyxiation a.k.a strangulation, due to the muscles around the respiratory system failing from paralysis – the animal slowly suffocates. Towards the end hyperextension occurs, the animal is literally writhing in pain. It can take up to an hour for symptoms to appear and greatly longer before the body succumbs to the poison. This is no way for anything to die. Then there are the effects on unborn pups should a pregnant dog take the bait or of the pups left behind if a nursing mother is poisoned.
These animals are only on this planet in such vast numbers because of the ignorance of humans. Too many people believe that any life apart from human life is disposable. Uganda is not unique in this. The USPCA works hard to educate people on how animals should be treated. They offer a spay and neuter program to reduce the number of unwanted puppies as well as giving vet advice on other things as well, such as rabies etc. Why doesn’t the govt. put the money it would spend on poison towards this instead? Poisoning won’t stop unwanted litters being born – you can not kill every stray dog. Only a well-run, widespread spay and neuter program will work in the long run.
Aside from the inhumane reasons, their are ecological reasons too. These poisoned baits may not be eaten by stray cats or dogs, there are wild animals in Uganda that may take then. The Maribou Storks and Black Kites of Kampala City are infamous and they are a fantastic sight to see. Both of these birds, especially the Black Kite, are scavengers and will take meat, even laced with poison. The effects of strychnine on a bird are even more heartbreaking than those of a dog, if that is possible.
Kampala also has a rather large homeless population, not as big as other East-African cities but there are a number of children sleeping rough on Kampala’s streets. If one of these were to get hold of the poisoned meat what would happen then? There is no specific antidote and hospital treatment would need to be immediate if the child was to stand any chance of survival.
I really wish the govt. would reconsider this. I can’t believe there are actually vets in the country willing to go along with it. I understand jobs are hard to come by but, where I’m from, vets are taught NOT to poison animals.