Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has decided to relocate stray dogs to other districts to curb the number of stray dogs in the streets of Dhaka.
Shah Md Imdadul Haque, chief executive officer of DSCC told Dhaka Tribune: “We are going to start a program to relocate stray dogs from Dhaka streets. We will move them to other districts so that they can find foods at different kitchen markets in different localities.”
“Primarily we will relocate the stray dogs from some selected areas to see the consequences as we heard that the dogs tend to return to their previous habitat,” he said.
"Stray dogs from Nagar Bhaban area, Dhanmondi area, and VIP areas will be relocated primarily," he added.
"The High Court passed an order not to kill the stray dogs. The Cruelty to Animals Act, 1920, also prohibited this kind of animal killing. But the number of free roaming dogs have increased in the Capital which is causing problems to Dhaka dwellers. That is why we are thinking of relocating dogs from the city," the DSCC official said.
“We have not initiated the program yet. But we will begin the initiative soon as per the order of the DSCC mayor,” he added.
A research conducted in 2015 titled "Free-Roaming dog population estimation and status of the dog population management and rabies control program in Dhaka city, Bangladesh'' revealed that some 52 dogs live per square kilometer in dhaka.
Rabies is a common disease that spreads to people from the saliva of infected animals including stray dogs. The number of deaths due to rabies has been reducing for the last several years.
Currently, 200 people die from Rabies each year in Bangladesh, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, DNCC will not follow in the footsteps of DSCC.
DNCC is going to control the number of stray dogs by sterilizing the stray dogs and reduce the rate of infection by strengthening the ongoing vaccination program.
Brigadier General Mohammad Mominur Rahman Mamun, chief health officer of DNCC said: "The High Court prohibited both killing and transferring the dogs. So we are going to strengthen our ongoing sterilization and vaccination program with Obhoyaronno, an NGO and DGHS.”
"Implementation of these programs slowed down due to Covid-19. The programs will be stricter and sharper in the coming days," he said.
"We will discuss with Obhoyaronno and DGHS to decide how we can reduce the number of stray dogs as well as Rabies," he added.
