In a shocking case of cruelty against animals, over 700 stray dogs have been poisoned to death by officials in southern Karachi in Pakistan. The move has been dubbed as an effort to curb their rising population in the city.
The operation was conducted in the entire city. The team left pieces of poisoned meat in different streets for the dogs to eat and their corpses were later shifted to landfill sites.
"At least 700 dogs have been killed only in two areas of Karachi's south in the last couple of days," Sattar Javed, a spokesman for the municipal authority, confirmed to Reuters.
Officials did not have full accounting for all six districts but estimated that thousands of strays were culled by the citywide operation that started this week.
The periodic culling of dogs using poison tablets hidden in chicken meat has drawn criticism from animal rights activists in Pakistan, but another city official, Mohammad Zahid, said it was necessary because packs of strays posed a threat to residents.
As per reports, last year, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre treated 6,500 people bitten by dogs and this year so far it has seen 3,700 cases, said Dr. Seemin Jamali, head of the emergency room.
Facing flak, city officials defended their move saying that the canines bite thousands of people every year, and they have been receiving complaints from the residents regarding the rising number of dogs in the area.
