A colonial dilemma about stray dogs: Delhi’s 80-year-struggle to deal in ‘humane’ ways
Fast forward eighty years, and the nation’s supreme court is grappling with the same problem. On Friday, the “alarming increase” in dog biting incidents in institutional areas was taken into account and instructions were given for stray dogs to be immediately moved to designated shelters after necessary sterilization and vaccination.
Records from 1946-47 preserved in the Delhi Archives reveal that even then authorities were discussing “humane” ways to control the stray dog population.
The chief commissioner of Delhi, in a letter dated 11 April 1946, wrote to the deputy commissioner expressing his objection to the use of strychnine poison to kill stray dogs, stating that it was “inhumane”.
Describing the poisoning as “most objectionable” and “by no means a painless death,” he noted that the animals suffered for about 20 minutes before dying. He demanded that authorities adopt a “painless method” and suggested execution by chloroform or electricity instead.
After the letter, the deputy commissioner inspected the Civil Veterinary Hospital on April 29, 1946 and recommended electric shock as the “ideal method” as it caused sudden death, according to records available to PTI. The hospital was using hydrocyanic acid at the time, which killed the animal within minutes with “practically negligible pain,” records show. The superintendent also raised similar concerns about the killing of pigs, expressing similar concerns about the killing of pigs. They were stabbed in the heart or jugular veins and “squealed loudly in pain”, urging that “something more humane must be possible”.
According to records, health officials who came from Delhi in May 1946 to examine the methods used in Bombay and Madras also reported that execution by electrocution was the most “effective and humane” option.
“As of March 1947, the office of the chief medical officer of Delhi State reported that 648 stray dogs had been destroyed in rural areas of the city, including 105 in Khera Khurd village.”
This debate between what would be considered a “compassionate” way to deal with the problem and what would be considered “cruel” angers Delhi’s rulers even today.
While the high court’s approach to sterilization and translocation appears to be a “humane” approach to solving the problem, animal rights activists have strongly opposed it, calling the move “cruel” and “detached from reality”.
The question of how to balance public safety with compassion for animals remains relevant even today. PTI
