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The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the provincial government to submit a comprehensive report with regard to the control of stray dogs population, and availability of free anti-rabies vaccines.
The direction came recently on a petition calling for the control of the population of stray dogs and availability of free anti-rabies vaccine. The petitioner, M Tariq Mansoor, had submitted that despite repeated directions of the court, no concrete measures had been taken by the provincial government to control the population of stray dogs.
He submitted that a large number of people had been infected with rabies virus and cases of dog-bite were being repeatedly reported by the media. A provincial law officer submitted that the SHC Sukkur bench had already passed an order in the identical matter and sought time to file copies of the said order.
A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed directed the provincial law officer to submit a comprehensive report on steps taken to control the stray dogs population and availability of free anti-rabies vaccines.
The petitioner had filed an application with regard to non-implementation of court orders in the stray dogs case and submitted that the dog bite incidents were on the rise in the province. He said the helpline 1093 created by the Sindh government for receiving complaints of stray dogs and dog bite incidents had been dysfunctional. He requested the high court to direct the local government department to submit a report on the Rabies Control Programme’s (RCP) performance of the previous two years.
The court was earlier informed by the RCP project director that culling of stray dogs in Sindh had been stopped while neutering, vaccinating and spaying of around 125,000 stray dogs in the province would be completed by June 2025.
It is pertinent to mention that the SHC Sukkur bench had directed the health secretary to ensure that vaccines and complete courses of ARV were being provided to the patients bitten by the dogs at the civil and taluka hospitals, and other health facilities.
The SHC had also directed the chief secretary to pay compensation in the shape of Diyat, Arsh or Daman amount (as the case may be) in terms of amount specified through latest notification issued by the Pakistan government to the bereaved families of the deceased of dog bite cases and also to the seriously injured victims and other victims of the dog bite cases within 15 days after receiving claims of the injured persons or legal heirs of those who had died due to dog bites.
The SHC directed the chief secretary and local government secretary to ensure that no municipal commissioners, taluka municipal officers, chief municipal officers and union council secretaries were given field posting in whose jurisdiction dog bite cases happened.
