Corpses of dead strays lay strewn in Satara after Friday’s gruesome incident; sources say authorities are turning a blind eye to residents killing dogs after their own unsuccessful sterilisation programme

After the gruesome killing of five-year-old Ramakant Dalvi by a pack of dogs in Satara on Friday morning, things came to a boil on the stray dog issue in the vicinity – and now it seems the Satara municipal council has taken a rather unprecedented step to ‘resolve’ the issue.

A local shows the spot where Ramakant Dalvi was killed by a pack of dogs

Two days after the attack on Sunday, carcasses of hundreds of stray dogs were found in various parts of the city, with the municipal council claiming they are in no way responsible for this large scale culling of canines. Scores of rotting dog carcasses dotted garbage dumping grounds at Songaon in Satara city.

According to sources, the Municipal Council of Satara has undertaken no sterilisation programmes over the last two years, owing to a dispute between two key organisations that work in the field of animal welfare.

The dispute was around the rates for sterilisation contracts, leading to a delay in the sterilisation programme, which eventually never took off. Meanwhile, anger is simmering amongst locals.
 
People are demanding stern action against authorities responsible for letting stray dog populations on the streets increase. Now, the municipal corporation is unofficially patronising the mass culling of dogs, leading to an unprecedented number of carcasses strewn around dumping grounds.

President of the municipal council Mukta Leve denied this, saying, “We killed the pack of dogs that actually attacked and killed the boy. We have not taken up any mass culling drive against stray dogs.” Leve admitted that the dog menace in the city is at an all time high. “Some more incidents of dog attacks have been reported — but we are unable to kill them or start sterilisation programmes, as experts say it is not permissible to perform sterilisation on dogs in the monsoon season.

Several animal lovers and activists have also taken objection to the killing of dogs.” Residents of the area say they live in fear of packs of dogs, claiming that increasing attacks on locals have become common. A resident of Devi Colony, Dhananjay Kadam told Mirror, “They may have ‘woken up’ to the issue now, but if the municipal council had taken steps to control the dog population a long time ago, maybe Ramakant could have been saved.”
 
Another local, Vikrant Pawar, said, “Dogs near the slaughter house in Sadarbazaar have become very violent. At night time, they form packs and roam, and it is impossible for people to walk safely in the area.” Aslam Tadsarkar, secretary of the Shahar Sudharna Samiti, a local NGO, said, “The civic authorities are responsible for Ramakant’s death — they should be booked under Section 302 of the IPC for murdering the boy.

They failed to control the dog menace on time.” Kadam said, “I have written several times to the municipal council to take action against illegal Chinese restaurant owners who throw food to these dogs. Several illegal stall owners put names or photos of political leader on their facades and manage to avoid action.”

Animal rights activist Manoj Oswal told Mirror, “This sterilisation programme has not been done properly, which is why the problem has increased to this level. Meanwhile, slaughterhouses and other establishments do not dispose of non-vegetarian waste properly, making some dogs abnormally aggressive — they should be isolated.

Killing dogs in a sweeping manner is not the answer and not justified. Authorities are responsible for this mismanagement.”

►   Civic authorities are the ones responsible for Ramakant’s death. They failed to control the dog menace on time

-  Aslam Tadsarkar, Secretary, Shahar Sudharna Samiti