What if neutering street dogs disappeared tomorrow?

The idea :

Neutering dog is the best way for street dogs population management and that has been proved from different approaches done by different NGOs, INGOs and the government itself in different countries.  Jane Goodall Institute Nepal, Humane Society International and Kathmandu Metropolitan together came up with an idea of “Manumitra” , a DPM(Dog Population Management) program that not only provides free Vaccination and sterilization of street dogs but also emphasizes in Community Sensitization believing that  a community can have dog population management only when they themselves  are sensitized about the importance of it.                                                                        

"Manumitra" in Action

ManuMitra was officially launched on 20^th April 2016 by the mayor of KMC, as a core program of the KMC’s Urban Health Division, intended to provide a permanent system for street dog management within the capital. ‘Manu Mitra’ is a Nepali term that literally translates as ‘friend of human’. Given the violent history of dog management in KMC, it was considered important to re-brand dog management with a positive image and one that emphasizes the bond between humans and dogs. ManuMitra intends to test a novel and fresh approach to street dog management, as described by the Theory of Change. Thus, Manumitra came up with an insight of Neutering male dog is as important as sterilizing female dogs for the proper control of dog population. 

The Need:

Rabies kills hundreds of people in Nepal every year, and 98% of cases occur following a dog bite. Aside from rabies, dog bites in themselves constitute a major public health problem, with 35,000 people reporting dog bites every year. In an attempt to control street dogs and rabies, strychnine-laced would be placed on the streets. For50 years, 10,000 dogs (around 50% of the population) were killed every year, with no discernible impact on the dog population or the spread of rabies. It was deemed necessary to create a working One Health model in the capital for how a municipal authority could assume its responsibility in addressing the animal welfare, human health and environmental concerns of street dog populations. Neutering of the street dogs is the only humane way of managing the street dogs population but along with it the community should be sensitized for the better result. In past different countries came up with different ideas for the control and most of them used to poison the dogs.

The Solution:

Street dog management is not simply a task of sterilizing dogs. You could neuter every street dog in Kathmandu and there would still be the same number of dogs and the same problems of rabies, dog bites, and nuisance. This is because the street dog population is sourced from people dumping dogs or allowing their private dogs to roam and breed. The root cause of all street dog issues is human behavior. According to our city-wide household questionnaire, 30% of households in KMC own pet dogs, with an average of 1.16 dogs per household, and 53% of these dogs are allowed to roam on the street. This means there are more than 82,000 privately owned dogs in the city, and 43,000 of these are free to roam on the street anytime. Only about 20% of these private dogs are sterilized. More than 30% of people knew of someone whose dog had puppies in the last 12 months, and 83% of these knew that at least some of these puppies were dumped (on the street, dump site, or shelter) or killed.

For a sustainable solution, you must make people responsible for dogs and give them the tools and awareness they need (like the importance of sterilization and access to affordable veterinary care).Not only sterilizing female dogs neutering male dogs is also equally important. When people are made clear that a healthy community can only be formed when there are healthy people, healthy animals and healthy Environment they will surely act responsibly and help in the neutering animals.