At least 350-400 patients get admitted for treatment of dog bites at District Health Office (DHO), Kathmandu every day. Veterinaries at the DHO claim that the number of such patients has been increasing by 10-20 percent every year.It has been estimated that there are over 100,000 stray dogs and at least 600,000 pet dogs in Kathmandu city. However, Dinesh Shahi, chairperson of Kathmandu Model Veterinary Hospital (KMVH) believes the population of both stray and pet dogs is increasing rapidly.
"Currently, we have not conducted any survey regarding the population of stray dogs in Kathmandu but the figures have definitely increased alarmingly. Just go to any alley and corner of Kathmandu city, you will not miss the presence of these homeless dogs," said Shahi.
The problem of stray dogs is no less different in Bhaktapur district. As per the record of Bhaktapur Animal Welfare Society (BAWS), an organization working for the welfare of street dogs, there were over 9,000 stray dogs in Bhaktapur district in 2012.
"In the past three years, the number of stray dogs has definitely increased and so has the cases of locals being attacked by them. This is turning into a serious case at many areas of Bhaktapur district," said Pranav Joshi, chairperson of BAWS.
According to Shahi, the management of stray dogs and keeping people safe has become a new challenge. KMVH in coordination with Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) office has been working hand in hand in managing the stray dogs of Kathmandu for two years now.
"Despite our efforts, population control of stray dogs in Kathmandu still remains a challenge. It is not that we are not trying but we have not received total pubic support in our work," said Shahi.
"If a family cannot afford to care and feed a dog properly, they should not even think about getting one. Problem arises when such people abandon them on streets and consequently they turn feral," said Jan Salter, founder of Kathmandu Animal Treatment Shelter at Budanilkanta.
In the course of controlling the population of stray dogs, government had started the campaign of killing them. But the program was later discarded after it gathered massive criticism.
Hari Krishna Shrestha, chief of Public Health Division at KMC also admitted to the increasing population of stray dogs in Kathmandu. "They are everywhere and their number is growing without any doubt. The best option now is to control their reproduction process by vaccination and we are working to make this happen in the next few months," said Shrestha.
Related story
Campaign to control stray dogs
