Dogs mercilessly tortured and taken to death. Many of us of were horrified at the video shot in the premises of the Mauritius Society for Animal Welfare. This could be a wake-up call to the authorities, but also to us, civilians.  

Strays have been an age long problem. Strays are an environment issue; they cause accidents and are a health hazard. But is the current situation the fault of those poor souls? The answer is a definite NO as strays are a result of wrong decisions made by authorities and society at large. They are in fact collateral victims of a flawed system. 

We woke up some days ago to horrendous images of how dogs are mercilessly tortured and taken to death by an organization which is funded by the public- ironically supposed to promote “animal welfare”. The footage shows us that euthanasia, which by definition implies painless killing, is a far cry from what it is supposed to be and reveals multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act 2013. Proper euthanasia must be practiced by certified veterinary surgeons and in a humane way to minimize the suffering of the animal. The video is unbearable to watch and, we presume, so was the suffering of those who endured that torture. 

When organisations backed by Government are acting this way, the questions beg- but what about the slaughter houses of this country? Are animal rights and other norms being adhered to in order to minimize the suffering of those who surrender their life for human consumption?    

So far no Government has given our four legged friends the priority they deserve. The solution for the stray issue is simple and it can be resolved by two major ways, in my humble opinion. First is mass sterilization and second is education. Mass killing has proved a complete failure in numerous countries. In India, for instance, studies by the World Health Organisation and the Animal Welfare Board of India show that dog population control measures which work in developed countries are unsuccessful in developing countries since the environment encourages the breeding of stray dogs and no matter how many dogs were killed, they were quickly replaced by more. That is why in 1994, India replaced the killing programme by mass sterilization of stray dogs. 

Whilst killing of stray dogs appears to be the most obvious method of controlling the population, it has actually proved to be completely useless because even when large numbers of dogs are killed, the conditions that sustain dog population remain unchanged. Stray dogs should be sterilized and put back to their environment. Some may say it has not resolved the issue but, with sterilization, the population becomes stable, non-breeding and decreases over time. They also become non-aggressive. On the other hand when dogs are killed they are quickly replaced. The most sustainable solution to the problem is therefore a mass island-wide sterilization campaign. 

This takes me to the second major solution which is pet owner education. So many Mauritians, although they love dogs, have a faint idea of what it implies to be a responsible pet owner. Sterilising one’s pet should become a basic civic sense. It is true to say that some do not have the means or transport to sterilise their pets. In fact, sterilisation caravans used to go round the island in the past but these have not been seen in fifteen years! Is Government and society therefore not responsible for the current situation?

Every morning we wake up to dead dogs or cats along the side of the road when we go to work. Every one or two months, we rescue puppies and kittens who have been abandoned on the side of the road simply because they were females or unwanted. I take this opportunity to salute the organisations and all those anonymous citizens across the island who work towards re-homing strays, often giving them treatment and gift them with a better future. 

A lot of other solutions could be found to avoid merciless killing. Some countries have put stray dogs to the service of society, for example, and they assist policemen in their work. With a little more effort, additional creative solutions can be found, if the proper consultations are initiated with all parties involved, public and private.   

Agreed that there might be more pressing social problems to overcome. But, as Mahatma Gandhi rightly said, “the Greatness of a Nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way its animal are treated”. Let’s equip ourselves, Government and society hand in hand, to move towards this moral progress, it is never too late. Bottom line, do we want to be remembered as a country which tortured animals or left them to die ‘dans la nature’ or a responsible country who has taken the right decisions to treat animals in a humane way with the respect and dignity that they deserve. This choice should be made by all of us, citizens of a Paradise Lost.