KOZHIKODE: Stray dog menace always finds a place in election manifestos. It’s no different this time. One of the main promises of political parties is relief from stray dogs after elections. They promise better birth control measures and facilities for treating dogs.
Records with the Regional Archives show the issue was much older than the Panchayati Raj and it came for discussions in the municipal councils of the British-ruled Malabar way back in 1912.
The Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor, one of the leading institutes producing anti-rabies vaccine, had requested Malabar’s municipal councils to take adequate steps to control the strays.
“At that time, there was even a ‘Town Nuisance Act 1889’ to catch and cull them. However, there was no response from the municipal councils and it led to the Institution sending a letter to the then Malabar collector R.B. Wood complaining about the ignorance of the councils,” says T.B. Seluraj, noted historian.
Following the collector’s order, the municipal councils started effectively carrying out the stray dog eradication operations by appointing dog catchers who got two and a half annas for each dog.
Till 1913, the dogs were clubbed to death. However, after a protest against this type of killing, the councils decided to poison them.
The Kannur Municipal Council protested again citing the incidents where the poisoned dogs were contaminating water bodies and they went ahead with the clubbing.
One of the noted Acts prevailed in Palakkad and Kozhikode municipal councils during earlier days was the rule regarding the maintenance of abandoned or vacant houses.
“The councils had an Act which made it mandatory for all homes to clean its premises and whitewash the walls,” added Mr Seluraj.
