WSD has also recently set up the Indian Pariah Dog Club, to promote the adoption of pariahs and mix breeds and inform people of the fact that they make excellent pets.

WSD operates according to WHO standards, which recommends the sterilisation-cum-vaccination programme as the most effective way to curb stray dog populations. Sterilisation has been proved the only practical, workable and humane alternative to the ineffective killing programmes carried out in most countries, and still in many cities in India. This programme achieves two important objectives viz. controlling the stray dog population and controlling human rabies deaths. The rabies deaths in Mumbai have gone down considerably since the Animal Birth Control (ABC) as it is called in India, started.

The stray dog population unlike other stray animal populations in India, often finds itself most severely criticized, and at the receiving end of a killing agenda. The killing policy has been objected to by a number of animal rights activists, and their strongest argument yet has come from the fact that though killing was practised for approximately 100 years, there was no noticeable decline in the stray dog population. The dog population is already perceptibly less in areas where the Animal Birth Control scheme has been properly implemented (such as South Mumbai). Many animal welfare organisations in India have campaigned to implement the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Programme for stray dogs. In the case of Mumbai, the High Court has passed an order making the killing of stray dogs illegal. The ABC programme is now in effect in Mumbai, Bangalore, Madras, Delhi and many other Indian cities. The ABC Programme has replaced the killing policy during which dogs were picked up and detained in municipal kennels for three days before being killed (by electrocution or other means). Many of these kennels are now run by the NGOs for the new sterilisation-cum-vaccination programme, a joint effort between the local authorities and NGOs.

Under the ABC programme dogs are picked from an area (zone wise); and transported to an NGO. The animals’ readiness to be operated upon is determined, weak animals are rested and administered appropriate medication before they are operated. Before its release, the dog receives an anti-rabies vaccination. Once the animal has sufficiently recovered, it is returned to the same area; this is ensured by a system of tagging and numbering dogs. Each organisation has its own way of branding, or tattooing a dog, to ensure easy recognition of sterilised dogs. (WSD tattoos dogs before release with the month and year of sterilization) The project is carried out zone wise to ensure that a given population in time will sufficiently reduce. Results are not immediate, it takes approximately one generation to realise the effectiveness of the programme.

The need to return dogs to the same area can be better understood when one understands the circumstances that contribute to stray dog populations and the way canine society functions:

Stray dogs and in fact pet dogs too are territorial. Each area has a specific number of dogs depending on how much food (garbage, handouts from street and slum-dwellers) is available. If you were to extract a group of dogs from one area, and assume the problem had been solved, you will actually have created a bigger problem. Since the food sources remain constant and are now undefended, dogs born in neighbouring areas soon migrate and establish themselves there. The remaining local dogs attack them, resulting in constant barking and fighting and accidental biting of pedestrians passing by. In fact, dog removal always creates an unstable, disease-carrying, aggressive, rapidly multiplying and potentially dangerous population; dog sterilisation on the other hand results in a stable, rabies-free, non-breeding, non-aggressive population that prevents the entry of new dogs and reduces in size over a period of time. In conclusion, it should also be understood that all stray dogs are not pariahs, as the common misconception would be; a stray is any dog that is ownerless/homeless. Pariah is our ancient breed of indigenous dog.

If you want to get dogs in your area sterilised, contact an NGO, and ask about procedures if you are unsure. There is also a wealth of information online; educating yourself will be beneficial to your community and to you personally. NGO’s will be happy to answer your questions on such issues of concern as rabies prevention.

Note:WDS is registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, Regn. No. E10463 Bom Dated 30-11-85. Recognised by Animal Welfare Board of India.
Donation exempted U/S 80-G of the Income Tax Act, vide certificate granted by the C.I.T. Bombay.