Thiruvananthapuram: The advocates of culling have backed former district collector Biju Prabhakar’s statement that dogs posing threat to humans should be selectively slaughtered.
“Dogs do not belong to streets. They have to be brought up in homes. The ones who pose threat to the lives of citizens should be culled. It is not animal lovers but the pseudo dog lovers who are creating hindrance in culling,” Mr Prabhakar told media.
The officials in corporation say that revenue officials and local bodies’ staff are often victimised by politicians if they do not act against culling. Even after high court passed interim orders lifting the complete ban on killing strays, the corporation officials could not isolate dogs for culling.
“We got the interim order from high court in November. But soon after corporation secretary’s office got calls from a central minister who warned us of serious consequence if we went for culling. Most revenue officials are also hunted by animal lovers' brigade. They even threaten to get them sacked from jobs,” said an official. He added that unofficially, the ward councillors in city help citizens to cull dogs.
“Dogs were culled in Technopark area last year. Non-availability of land for burying the carcass is the only problem. In similar manner, culling was carried out at Punchakkari where citizens blocked entry and exit of outsiders to the area during culling exercise,” he added.
