Team Herald
PANJIM: The case of a pet Pitbull breed dog mauling a 7-year-old boy in Anjuna has raised the question on the need to have ferocious dogs as pets in homes.
Veterinarians and animal lovers are split over the issue. While some say that the owners need to be much more aware and educated, prominent doctors said that it’s better to avoid having aggressive dogs as pets.
Dr Aneesh Viegas, a veterinarian who runs a pet clinic in Margao, raised questions on the argument of banning aggressive dogs. “If you search on the internet, you will find that the Dachshund dog breed is the most dangerous. Are you going to ban the Dachshund? There are several breeds where the owners are bitten frequently,” he said.
Mariano Ferrao, a dog lover who owns big pet dogs asked, “Can a dog be terminated just for being dangerous? It is not a threat to the society,” he said.
“Double the amount of people die and are hurt due to stray dogs, stray cattle, pigs. What does the government have to say on this?” he said.
“I do condemn the incident and the loss of a child is sad. But it was noticed that there was irresponsible behaviour from the owner and the victim’s family,” he pointed out.
Senior Veterinarian Dr Gustavo Pinto however differed from the above views. He said, “Considering what the dog has done to a child, I would have put the dog to sleep. Because if the dog has taken a child today, it will take another child tomorrow,” he said.
“It is a very big tragedy and it was irresponsible for the owner to have let the dog loose in the house,” he added.
In the Economic Survey of 2023-24, the Government mentioned that it had reviewed and revised the policy for ‘Street and Pet Dog Caregiving’, considering several dog bite cases occurring in the State.
Now the Minister for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Nilkanth Halarnkar has said that the government will be introducing a policy for stray dogs and pets in the next three months.
Around 8,700 cases of dog bites have been reported this year from January to July. The government’s plan to ban some breeds of ferocious dogs has fizzled out. With no policy and no plan to tackle this problem, the safety of people around aggressive pets is now on tenterhooks.