President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan has urged the local administration to expedite the action against thousands of stray dogs in almost all the areas of Karachi where dozens of masses, particularly kids and senior citizens, become victims of stray dogs' bite each day and their hardships intensify further as they have to run from pillar to post to get the required vaccinations, which were not easily available at all hospitals.
While referring to a recent order issued by the Sindh High Court (SHC) wherein the provincial government and civic agencies have been directed to constitute task force to take action against stray dogs in Karachi, President KCCI said that the despite clear orders by the court, it appears that no remedial action has been taken so far by the authorities concerned and even if they have, the progress was really slow while dog-bite incidents were still being widely reported every day from different localities.
He said that besides completely cleansing Karachi from stray dogs, the authorities concerned must also ensure availability of vaccines to treat dog bites patients in bulk quantities at all the hospitals of the city. "Although the anti-rabies vaccination is available in many hospitals but in case of a deeper wound, the victim must also get vaccinated with Rabies Immunoglobulin (RIG) to avoid spread of bacteria but this vaccination was very expensive at the private hospitals, leaving no other choice for the poor masses but to get vaccinated from the Indus Hospital which is doing a commendable job by providing it free of cost to the needy patients", he added.
Agha Shahab feared that the number of stray dogs may go up further in the future as no remedial measure was being taken to deal with the alarming situation and the municipal authorities have failed miserably to check the growth of stray dogs who have been roaming in almost all localities of the city and regularly biting people, especially children.
He was of the opinion that the basic reason behind the rising number of stray dogs in the city was the unattended garbage, which has been a serious issue since quite some time now. Stray dogs rely on garbage while hunting for eatables. Countries that have garbage kept in bins and are cleaned regularly see lesser number of stray dogs but in Karachi, garbage lies open and unattended on almost all the streets where anyone could easily notice stray dogs searching for eatables, which has to be cleared immediately.
He hoped that the authorities concerned instead of blaming each other, would come forward to deal with these serious issue in order to provide some relief to Karachiites who are already overburdened due to multiple issues.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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