Pakistan is the tragic home to almost 3 million stray dogs, with a large percentage of this population being concentrated in the province of Sindh, and within it, in the bustling metropolitan of Karachi. Stray dogs are everywhere in Karachi, be it by roadside tea stalls, bus stations, or snoozing in public parks – one cannot miss their overwhelming presence in the city. However, despite their high population and free-roaming within public spaces, the lives of stray dogs are cut brutally short by planned mass culling that murders tens of thousands of dogs every year by mass shootings or poisonings. 

The mass culling of stray dogs by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) is a heartless state-sanctioned attempt at curbing the spread of rabies and is a response to growing numbers of dog bite cases in Karachi. While the spread of rabies and dog bite deaths is an unfortunate persisting issue in Karachi, there are no reports that can attest that KMC’s inhumane dog culling initiatives are solving the problem. The citizens of Karachi demand that KMC formulate effective stray dog population control management strategies that are humane and dignified. Countries with large stray dog populations such as Turkey and Sri Lanka have managed their dog populations through internationally recommended practices of mass trapping, neutering, vaccinating, and releasing (TNVR) dogs. These strategies are effective, and humane, and have resulted in a controlled stray population and rabies eradication.

Local non-governmental organizations such as Rabies Free Pakistan and Ayesha Chundrigarh Foundation are tirelessly implementing TNVR campaigns with limited budgets – the Sindh government must support these organizations and allocate a budget towards mass TNVR campaigns and the building of dog shelters in order to rescue the excessive stray dog population from the streets to safety. These efforts need to be coupled with mass community awareness for Karachiites who treat dogs as pests rather than fellow citizens. The road toward improvement is long and winding, but an immediate start on the right track is the outlawing of mass culling.

Sign this petition to outlaw the brutal mass murder and state-sanctioned genocide of stray dogs in Karachi. 

#BanDogCulling