Petition to Bangalore, India based Press Media
- by: Concerned and distressed citizens of India
- recipient: Editors of prominent Indian newspapers, senior media persons and citizens of India
The Bangalore press went to town about a story of dogs mauling a child on 1 July 2011. This investigation was the job of the police and the journalists before they put out the story, but no-one was interested in putting any sweat behind it. Some of my friends and I have actually investigated (on location) and found facts to be on the contrary.
If you are to believe the press:A 20kg dog (wt of a stray dog) has carried an 18kg boyBetween 700mts to 1.8KMs in about an hourWhile the police and father were looking for him!These are only a few holes in the reporting - a white-paper with data and evidence of what happened is going to be released later this week by the same group of people who bring this petition.
The hysteria this generates can be see in the widespread roundup of dogs. In the quest to 'Clean the streets of Stray dogs' the Municipal departments (BBMP) and so called 'NGO's (who are actually paid by BBMP for each dog capture and 'release'), thousands of dogs are being captured and put down. In a small area around my house there are about 50 dogs in 7 packs that are missing. In 2007 there was mass illegal culling on similar grounds against Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, The Criminal Prc Code and the basic Duties of an Indian Citizen enshrined in the Constitutions of India.See for yourself what this hysteria is creating and capable of creating - I am sure you do not want to be a part of it.
BBMP's job is to keep the city clean - dogs are scavengers it is the garbage that these dogs eat - why doesn't BBMP stick to that brief well? There is about 2400 tonnes of organic waste uncollected everyday in Bangalore alone.
WHO guidelines are very clear on what is the most effective way of controlling population control (ABC) which has led to 0% rabies in many cities including Jaipur, Chennai etc.
Dear Sir/ Madam,
We wish to draw your attention to the following reports:
Title: ABC programme has no bite at all Published: Bangalore, July 5, 2011
By: Mohit M. Rao & Divya Gandhi, The Hindu, Bangalore http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Bangalore/article2160805.ece
Title: Animal lovers to blame for stray dog menace: BBMP Published: 2011-07-04
By: Yacoob Mohammed, Mid Day, Bangalore
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/jul/040711-news-bangalore-Animal-lovers-stray-dog-menace-BBMP.htm
Title: Toddler killed by stray dogs Published: July 2, 2011 DC Bengaluru
By: Deccan Chronicle http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/toddler-killed-stray-dogs-023
Title: 2-year-old boy mauled to death by stray dogs Published: Posted on Jul 02, 2011 at 04:43pm IST By: Express News Service, The New Indian Express http://ibnlive.in.com/news/2yearold-boy-mauled-to-death-by-stray-dogs/164452-60-115.html
Title: Stray dogs maul toddler to death Published: Bangalore, July 1
By: Deccan Herald http://www.deccanherald.com/content/172962/stray-dogs-maul-toddler-death.html#top
Title: Another day, another dog, another toddler attacked in Bangalore
Published: Sunday, Jul 3, 2011, 13:23 IST Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA
By Santosh Kumar RB & BK Lakshmikantha http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_dogs-kill-child-bangalore-civic-body-sees-black-magic_1561446
Going through the above, we were amazed to read that an 18 kg child was dragged out of a basement, up an inclined ramp, without a sound, and without being noticed by the attendant security people, or their family members nearby.
It is difficult to believe that street dogs, normally extremely cautious about approaching strangers, and averaging approximately 20 kgs in weight, could possibly be aggressive and powerful enough to stealthily approach a sleeping child in a hospital basement, silently grab hold of him and then drag him up and onto the street, past the security guards, all in perfect silence, then quietly a distance of 700 meters down a road lined with residential housing with no screams, shrieks, growls or barks being heard by anyone. Strangely, upon further investigation, we found that not a single person in the area had claimed to have heard any screaming or barking. Incidentally, although one publication (the Deccan Herald, in a report entitled Stray dogs maul toddler to death, published on 1st July 2011) quoted the distance the child was dragged by the alleged super-canines as 400 meters, it was measured as 700 meters by a team of independent investigators.
Further, a report in the Deccan Chronicle published on 2nd July 2011 entitled Toddler killed by stray dogs, and another report in the New Indian Express on the same date, titled 2-yr old boy mauled to death by stray dogs%u201D, both claim that the father of the dead boy was inebriated at the time and did not notice the boy, a 2 year old toddler, missing until his dead body was found by a pile of refuse almost a kilometer away. Did medical examination of the father establish that he was drunk at the time the child was allegedly carried away by dogs? If there is no such record, on what basis did the reporters make this statement? If the basis was hearsay, was its acceptance as gospel truth a responsible act at a time when emotions were running high? If it was hearsay, could talk about the father being too inebriated to notice the boy's absence or him being carried away be a plant to camouflage something serious--his murder, for example--by projecting the whole thing as a case of death by dog bite? Were some among those claiming that the child had been killed by dogs party to spreading such disinformation with ulterior motives? Was it not the responsibility of the reporter to investigate this aspect before ascribing the death to dog bites even before a post-mortem report was available?
If it was a murder, who was responsible? What could be the motive?
Bangalore is one of the most important IT hubs of the world. Karnataka is an increasingly important tourist destination. There is an urgent need to examine whether some groups or individuals are deliberately whipping up frenzy over what are projected as attacks by stray (community) dogs to scare away IT investors and tourists and divert them to other cities, states and countries.
The other possibility is as diabolical. Is the purpose behind creating a scare about stray (community) dogs leading to the mass killing of stray (community) dogs as in 2007, which wrecked the implementation of the ABC programme in the city by killing off a very large section of sterilised and vaccinated dogs, whose presence in their respective localities is central to the success of the programme? The World Health Organisation's Technical Report Series 931 clearly states: "Since the 1960s, ABC programmes coupled with rabies vaccination have been advocated as a method to control urban male and female dog populations and ultimately human rabies in Asia. The rationale is to reduce the dog population turnover as well as the number of dogs susceptible to rabies and limit aspects of male dog behaviour (such as dispersal and fighting) that facilitate the spread of rabies. Culling of dogs during these progammes will be counterproductive as sterilized, vaccinated dogs may be destroyed."
In their joint introduction to the Guidelines for Dog Population Management, jointly issued by the World Health Organisation and the World Society for the Protection of Animals in 1990, K. Bogel of the WHO and John Hoyte of the WSPA, wrote, "All too often, authorities confronted with problems caused by these [stray] dogs have turned to mass destruction in the hope of finding a quick solution, only to realise that the destruction had to continue, year after year with no end in sight."
Those who are now whipping up a mass hysteria over stray (community) dogs and are demanding their wholesale slaughter, should ponder this: the very fact that they are conducting this campaign indicates that the mass killings of 2007 served no purpose at all. Nor will the result of a repeat slaughter be any different. The only way out is successful implementation of the ABC programme.
We would, therefore request you, as people at the helm of powerful publications, not to be swayed by the carefully orchestrated campaigns against stray (community) dogs but to explore all aspects of the situation including efforts by some to damage Karnataka and Bangalore. In this context, we also request you to endorse our call for a judicial inquiry into the incident under the Commissions of Inquiry Act to find out what actually happened.
With kind regards and expectations of prompt action,
Concerned citizens of Bangalore and elsewhere.
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