Gujarat cops urged to rethink dog breeding plan
By IANSSunday, July 4, 2010
GANDHINAGAR - Animal lovers have urged the Gujarat Police to reconsider a proposal for their sniffer dogs from aggressive breeds mate with civilian canines.
The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) has said that dog breeders will exploit this opportunity solely for motives of profit to the detriment of the animals. It will also compound the street animal population.
Director General of Police S.S. Khandwawala had recently announced that his department has decided to let police dogs mate with civilian canines for free subject to the condition that police would induct the male puppies into their force.
FIAPO, an umbrella non-government organisation providing support to animal protectors across India, pointed towards illegal dog breeders and said: “Female dogs are made to go through repeated cycles of pregnancy, depleted physically and then dumped on the streets.”
Ahmedabad already faces a serious dog over-population. The proposal will encourage unscrupulous breeders to indulge in animal abuse, it said.
FIAPO chairman S. Chinny Krishna, in a letter to the police, has expressed concern that aggressive breeds like Rottweilers, German Shepherds and Dobermans are being proposed to be bred by the police.
“We don’t think we really need such breeds in India, as they are quite unsuited to the Indian climate to begin with,” he said.
“Encouraging breeding of such dogs, out of which some may end up being dumped on the streets, is only going to make the streets less safe”, it pointed out.
According to a survey conducted since 1982 in the US, Rottweilers accounted for 47 percent (173 out of 368) of the fatalities due to dog bites and 56 percent (905 out of 1613) of disfiguring injuries, the letter said.
On Saturday, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the Animal Welfare Board of India signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) to to control the stray dog numbers in the city.
Under the (MoU), at least 70 percent of the stray dogs in the city are likely to be sterlized over the next two years, said AMC Commissioner I.P. Gautam.
