Bangalore, March 9: The Bangalore corporation’s decision to capture and “cull” all street dogs following the recent mauling and death of two children by two separate packs of dogs in the city’s suburbs has sparked off outrage in the city.

It has even prompted Governor T N Chaturvedi to write a letter to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy advising the need for more sanity and science. “Even when emotions are aroused in a situation, it is for the authorities to keep their cool and find a middle path, which will yield some fruitful results,” the governor has stated while expressing unhappiness with the corporation’s functioning.

Despite City Commissioner K Jairaj arguing that “no culling is taking place, only the animal birth control programme is being implemented,” dozens of dog carcasses have been found in corporation garbage-dumps in two different places on the outskirts of Bangalore in the last two days. Between March 3 — when the corporation began its drive — and March 6, as many as 1200 stray dogs from across the city were captured and sent to four dog pounds maintained by animal-rights groups. Since March 6, the pounds that were running to full capacity began turning away the corporation’s 30 dog vans, each tasked to “capture” 1000 dogs per day.

Animal-rights groups are now reporting that the stray dogs turned away from the pounds are being killed or being released en masse into the outskirts of Bangalore in violation of laws preventing cruelty to animals. On Friday, animal rights activist Sujaya Jagadish, who followed a stray-dog van around the northern parts of the city reported that a group of over 40 dogs captured through the day were let loose on the outer ring road at the end of the day.

The corporation’s frenzied drive is being seen by many as a knee-jerk, irrational response to two stray incidents of deaths since January this year.

After a four-year-old boy Manjunath was mauled by a pack of dogs on February 28, the state health minister R Ashok announced the “merciless culling of stray dogs.”

“There has never been such a slaughter of dogs anywhere before, a terror has been unleashed in Bangalore. Only 0.1 per cent of dogs are biting humans. How can they do this?” asks Suparna Ganguly from the animal rights group Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA).

“A frenzy has been created and people are being consumed by it,” says Poornima Harish of the Animal Rights Fund. But animal-rights volunteers attempting to prevent the capture of dogs have had to face public wrath in several areas over the past week. Organizations like Stray Dogs Free Bangalore and prominent citizens agree that there is a need to reduce stray dog numbers in Bangalore, but in an ethical manner.

“The corporation should not be cowed down by the animal rights groups. They must mercifully euthanize stray dogs otherwise there is going to be a huge problem,” says Vatsala Dhananjay from Stray Dogs Free Bangalore.

“If dogs are attacking in packs it means that they are present in large numbers, fighting for food. The problem needs a holistic approach of encouraging adoption, sterilization, licensing,” says B J Mahendra, a city-based rabies researcher.

According to the head of human resources, education and research at Infosys, T V Mohandas Pai, “the challenge must be tackled with compassion and Bangalore like other international cities must be street-dog free.” Citizens must “mutually recognize the needs of each other and there is need for both sides to be more considerate,” he said.

Biocon chairperson and MD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw argues that the stray dog menace in Bangalore exists because of a poor garbage disposal system. “Culling stray dogs is not going to solve the problem if garbage collection is not going to be addressed. There is a menace, but it is heartless to blame dogs alone. It needs a more well-thought-out approach,” she said.