Addressing stray-dog problem imperative.

Stray dogs continue to pose a threat to public health in Dhaka city in particular. According to the Infectious Diseases Hospital officials, they are getting on average 200 dog-bite patients every day at the hospital in the city's Mohakhali area. Moreover, over 36,000 dog-bite patients have taken treatment from the hospital in the last eight months while 76,000 took treatment in 2019 and 81,000 in 2018. Besides, roughly 95 per cent of the victims are from Dhaka. Alongside some other animals, dogs are responsible for spreading rabies, a viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain in humans and other mammals, leading the patient, if not treated in time, eventually to death. It is worth noting that local -government bodies are generally responsible for the control of dog population in respective areas. But Dhaka South City Corporation for the last 30 months and Dhaka North City Corporation for 11 months have not reportedly done anything to control the dog population for 'lack of manpower and budgetary allocation'. In such a situation, stray dogs in the city have increased their population at an alarming rate, causing public sufferings. Over decades, local-government bodies have resorted to mass culling of dogs in an attempt to control the animal's population. But the High Court put a ban on such a cruelty to the domesticated carnivore in 2014. Also, the Animal Welfare Act 2019 which was enacted on July 10, 2019 repealing the earlier Cruelty to Animals Act 1920 to protect animal rights prohibits the killing of any animal. Against this backdrop, DSCC in particular opted recently for the relocation process to fight the menace. But different animal- rights organisations protested this drive, and rightly so, arguing that the law restricts both culling and relocation of animals. Additionally, they filed writ petition with the High Court over the issue, leading the DSCC to abandon the stray dog- relocation...