Stray Dogs In Bhutan

The rising dog population is becoming a major problem for Bhutan. Coupled with this, the small number of veterinarians in the country has made the problem more accute. To control the country's dog population, government took up sterilization program in the 1970's but it has not been very successful.The current sterilization program started in 1991. The main reason behind this failure is lack of continuity and shortage of veterinarians. Kuensel Online reports:The reason these campaigns fell short, say experts from Vets Beyond Borders (VBB), an Australian-based, non-profit organisation, which trains local veterinary and para-veterinary staff and aims to address the overpopulation of street dogs, was the country’s failure to continue the programme on a regular basis.“The programmes have been very sporadic and uncoordinated,” said the veterinary director of VBB, Dr Ian H Douglas, who met with officials from the department of livestock yesterday to discuss and share ways to tackle the country’s ever-increasing canine population.Dr Douglas said that the programme has to be continued with high-level effort for two to three consecutive years, with about three or four teams operating five days a week. “Sterilising a few weeks here and another few weeks at some other place will make no difference at all.”So far, the country has been conducting just one or two sterilisation programmes a year, which last between 10 to 15 days.Dr Catherine Schuetze, VBB’s president, added that the country’s attempts to control the dog population was rendered ineffective because of lack of resources and manpower. “It’s just not possible because there aren’t enough staff and vets who, on an average, manage to sterilise or vaccinate between four and 20 percent of the dogs,” she said.According to the data collected in 2005, the dog population of Bhutan stands at about 50,000. For this 50,000 there are only 22 veterinarians.Being a Bhuddist country, killing dog is considered very unethical and immoral. Aside from sterilizing, culling and impounding dogs are good ways but they are not very effective. Impounding dogs can be a very good solution for controlling the dog population but it is very expensive. According to Dr Catherine Schuetze, President, Vets Beyond Borders (VBB), Bhutan government would have to spend more than 5000 Nu per year for each dog impounded. VBB’s director, Dr Ian H Douglas said that their agency is planning to introduce a coordinated national Animal Birth Control-Anit-Rabies programme to control the dog population.