The augmenting incidents of the dog bites day after day in Sindh has catalyzed a frightened situation and made the lives of citizens comfortless. Why is the administration wordless and indolent over this highly sensitive matter? Shouldn’t it take substantive steps to get rid of infringed dogs? Why are the Municipal and relevant department officials in a prolonged sleep? Besides, the Sindh government had decided last year to launch a “dog-catching” campaign owing to the rising incidents of seal poaching in the province, but it did not have shown much results. Last year, in 2020, more than 25,319 cases of dog bites and 16 deaths were reported, while in 2019, 235,000 cases were reported and 25 people died due to rabies. An abrasive incident took place five days ago in the Bahu Kanjo area of ??Daharki Tehsil in Sindh, where stray dogs attacked and bit a man. The injured man was shifted to Mirpur Mathelo Headquarters Hospital for the medical treatment, where due to the non-availability of anti-rabies vaccine, his condition deteriorated further and he was shifted to a private hospital in Lahore where he succumbed to his injuries yesterday. The condition of suffering people worsens and one dies due to not getting vaccinated on time. How Sindh can shake off from the situation as India and China have already informed Pakistan that due to increasing local demand for the vaccine, India can no longer export the vaccine. At this point, India exports anti-rabies vaccines to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Turkey and African countries. Considering the complexity of the matter, Vaccination and Sterilization methods should be collectively adopted to prevent the population of these strayed dogs. According to the health experts as per their common view, the main reasons for the increasing incidence of dog bites is the unavailability of vaccines in areas of Sindh. However, no significant arrangements have been made by the government to address this problematic condition in the province. There is a dire need to raise awareness in society to stop the increasing incidences of dog bites. Stray dogs should be avoided unnecessarily. It is also important to ensure that these dogs are not starved or injured, while the local administration’s job is to either kill the stray dogs unethically or take steps that do not pose a threat to the public. The number of stray dogs in Karachi, the province’s largest city, was more than 1.5 million, last year. There is a need to ensure that vaccines are available everywhere in Sindh not only in particular areas. Also, as Veterinarians say there is a need to benefit from the experiences of Sri Lanka and Thailand, where the incidence of dog bites has been greatly reduced.
