Will Murder One Million
(extracted from Reuters Life! http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-49201920100610?pageNumber=1)
A new kind of death squad is roaming the streets of Baghdad, killers packing hunting rifles and poisoned meat.
Their prey: the estimated 1 million stray dogs that multiplied in the Iraqi capital as violence paralysed public services following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
With the improvement in security over the past 2-3 years, authorities are reviving a Saddam-era practice of culling Baghdad’s stray dog population.
“We could consider this the biggest campaign of dog execution ever,” Baghdad chief veterinarian Mohammed al-Hilly said this week, accompanying a team of shooters.
Hilly said the campaign had so far killed 42,000 dogs since it started two months ago. More than half were poisoned.
“This can be considered a victory,” he said, as the culling team laid into a pack of dogs.
In the Shula district of northwestern Baghdad, children gathered with sticks to prod the slain animals amid discarded litter. The dead dogs were loaded onto a tractor to be thrown into pits at Baghdad’s refuse dumps.
Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the height of sectarian war in 2006-07 that killed tens of thousands of people.
PARALYSED PUBLIC SERVICES
Culling stray dogs was a nightly routine under Saddam, but the rapid deterioration in security after the U.S. invasion kept the veterinary teams off the streets.
Hilly also blamed the burgeoning dog population on the huge amounts of litter that began heaping up in the capital as violence paralysed public services.
Now, authorities have 20 dedicated teams each consisting of two shooters and two veterinarians, often accompanied by police patrols on daytime operations.
The campaign is financed to the tune of 35 million Iraqi dinars ($30,000) from the Baghdad Governorate Council and mayor’s office.
Kareema Mousa, head of the department of health and environment in the Baghdad governorate council, said there were an estimated 1.25-1.5 million stray dogs in Baghdad, a city of some 7 million people.
“They cause many diseases for humans, so to eliminate them is a service to the citizens,” said Mousa.
Hilly said they expect to get the number down to a manageable level within a year. He defended the cull as the only option given the huge number of dogs in the capital.
In Shula district, local resident Mohammed Hussein showed the teams where to hunt.
“I wish they would kill all the dogs because they are harmful, they carry diseases and I’m afraid for my children,” said the 40-year-old father of nine. “We encourage them in their campaign and we are ready to help.” (Editing by Matt Robinson and Paul Casciato)
******************************
It’s quite sad to think that while we are spending our time and effort into saving one dog, Sara (amongst many others)…over in another country there will be 1 million dogs that’s planned to be killed.
Even after killing 1 million dogs, the problems for the government won’t stop. They will need to dispose of the great number of poisoned and diseased dogs. Toxins can spread air borne and through their water. Disposing of 1 million dogs will not be an easy feat..and doing it economically will not put safety and health as priority. They have not said anything about the chemical used to poison the dogs to death, but I pray that it does not have any effect on humans. If not, this will be a terrible snowball effect..the effects on humans..and the direct effects of murder on these dogs…I am numb and speechless. This is a very hard and difficult blog for me.
42,000 living beings were shot..with another 968,000 lives more to be taken away – what can we do? how do you feel?
Tsem Tulku
im andrew hibberd i was a last in line witness to the culling of the last of the great wild bulls and camels in australia as part of the export meat industry to america from australia
Our minds project its own set of imagined FEARS and this lead us to do many harmful things. Because we think something is a threat to us or harmful to our security, we seek to destroy without first truly understanding the root cause of a problem or situation.
I hope they do realise that their murder of 1 million will come back to haunt them as Karma is real.
OM MANI PADME HUM.
we are blessed by those who fall
never becomb numb to anything wise teachers stay wise and strong and speak the correct words at the correct time. killing dogs in this time may well be the correct action or it may not, all i say is if your interested go and get your hands dirty. or send our people to help out , it appears to me after most of historical conglicts it is normal people who have to clean up the mess and breath in the bacteria and make plans to leave a better neighbourhood for the grandchildren , action is what is required maybe we let the dogs run wild and eat the young children who are not cared for at night stolen from tents ?
i dont have the answer
I sure do oppose this war on terrorism because it is all a sham. My country, America, and other countries, support serious disreguard for human life, animal life is not even on their minds at all. Iraq was invaded illegally. Colin Powell lied to the U.N. about the intelligence reports on WMD’s and moving laboratory trucks that manufacture chemical weapons. Afghanistan is known as the “graveyard of empires”, come on America…
It’s always articles like this one, that are so generally written, your eyes could just roll over the words and lines..but as you think about it more, the gravity of the situation becomes heavier and heavier.
Reading stories regarding Hachiko, the dog that was saved from the dog-fighting industry, about Sara, about Mumu and Oser etc, the depth of a relationship between A dog and A human being can warmly touch a wave of readers’ hearts.
When I think about it deeper and apply this thought to EACH INDIVIDUAL dog out from the ONE MILLION, and the potential love, care and companionship they could share with someone..the number 1,000,000 suddenly appears nauseously staggering. Almost ridiculous.
To answer the question asked in the post, how do I feel?
I feel so deeply sorry and helpless towards each dog that will have nothing to defend for him/herself but his/her bark.
I feel angry that because of bad planning (amongst other things), so many dogs have to die when the numbers could have been controlled and hence killing made unnecessary.
I feel disgusted that I am part of the species that is behind the gun.
What can we do?
I guess that in terms of directly stopping the killings in Iraq there really isn’t anything that I can do. Only thing that I can think of is to make other people aware of these sort of events, with the impression that it is a devastating occurrence (for some, they might feel inclined to think it’s alright to kill so many dogs if they are “pests” or a “nuisance”).
To make others aware that killing, whether it be of 1 animal or a million, is still taking the life of another living being.
To kill a dog is the same as the action of killing a rat or even killing an ant. They’re all potentially seen as “pests”. There really isn’t a difference between killing a few dogs and killing a few ants on the table, is there? (honest question)
If I’m able to make aware to others that the killing of 1 million dogs is terrible, hopefully they’ll thinking even deeper to realize that in the end it is all the same. Killing is killing.
I hope this comment isn’t too long.
In Bagdad, Iraq many stray dogs have been culled or killed by by shooting or poisoning. It has been war in Bagdad among people and now war with the poor stray dogs who cannot fight back but to surrender and be killed by shooting or poisoned. I guess the amount of 1 million dogs that was killed may even be more than the people that has been killed in the war as humans can fight back to protect themselves. Dogs are animals and have no means to fight back themselves. I wonder since Bagdad can use money to have the dogs killed. Why then they don’t use money to catch the female dogs and sterilze them.