Karachi's stray dogs are finally being vaccinated

Photo: ACF Animal Rescue/ Facebook Karachi has finally started a government-run programme to vaccinate stray dogs. The first leg of the Sindh government campaign, called the ‘Fight against rabies and population control of stray dogs programme’, started Thursday from District Central – the biggest district of the city. ACF Animal Rescue, a non-governmental organisation, and the District Central administration is working with the government on the programme. During Thursday’s campaign, two union councils (11 and 14) of North Karachi were covered by the sanitation department of Central district and ACF team. At least 15 dogs were vaccinated, DMC Central Sanitation Deputy Director Zaheer Ahmed told SAMAA Digital. The dogs were also tagged after vaccination. In the next phase, the sterilisation of these dogs will be conducted. In a statement on social media, ACF announced that it had volunteered its services to train the DMCs across Karachi in the humane way of vaccinating dogs against rabies as part of the programme. [caption id="attachment_1907147" align="alignnone" width="800"] Photo: ACF Animal Rescue/ Facebook[/caption] “We started by 11:30am and managed to vaccinate every dog we saw as we walked the streets. There were 15 in total. We have advised DMCs that early morning is the best time to spot dogs to quickly catch, vaccinate and release,” the post by ACF read. Ahmed says the programme is faced with a vaccine shortage. “The campaign had to stop by 2pm because the vaccines finished,” he said, adding that it will continue tomorrow (Friday) as the vaccination was being provided in limited quantities. There are more than 2,500 stray dogs in New Karachi and North Karachi, he said, adding that people are complaining about the presence of stray dogs on their streets and the roads in high numbers. Sindh Local Government Secretary Roshan Ali Shaikh says 500,000 dogs will be vaccinated in this programme within a year. All stray dogs will be eliminated from the province in a year, he said, explaining that the campaign will expand to other cities and districts in phases. Last week, the DMC East brutally killed 30 stray dogs without the consent of the Sindh government. During this campaign, stray dogs in Jumma Goth, Lines Area, Khudadad Colony and its adjacent areas were killed. Follow SAMAA English on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.