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It is indeed objectionable that John Hicks, who ever he is, has abrogated to himself, the power, the authority and the responsibility (Navhind Times “ My Views”,Jan3rd 2003) to pass judgement/lecture the Goans on their responsibility/irresponsibility and how they should conduct themselves and their pets. Mr. Hicks why have you not revealed that in your native UK, not a single stray dog is permitted to roam free on your beaches, or the streets of London or any public places, and if any such animal is sighted, it is immediately impounded , and held for a limited period until it is claimed or a home found for the animal, and that failing this, after the statutory holding period, the dog is put to sleep. Why have you not revealed that because of this enlightened policy, there has not been any cases of rabies in UK for decades where as, each year in India, almost one hundred, thousand (1,000,00) people, mostly children and poor people, die horrible agonizing death from rabies due to stray dog bites. As for the wonderful work being done with the Mapuca council, the public should be informed that the so called ABC-RV programme, implemented in the manner that it is being done at present, is a totally unscientific programme, doomed to failure right from the start. This has been forth rightly and correctly exposed by no less than the Director of Animal Husbandry, in his interview published in the Navhind times on Nov. 7th 2002, where in he has explained that because of the prolific breeding capacity of dogs, unless 70% of strays are sterilized in a six month period, the programme is bound to fail. This is exactly what has happened wherever the ABC-RV programme has been tried out, in India and else where, for the last five years The ABC-RV programme can only succeed in SMALL ISOLATED COMMUNITIES WITH SMALL STRAY DOG POPULATIONS, WHERE THE DOGS ARE NOT PERCEIVED TO BE A RISK OR NUISANCE. This is not the situation in Goa, and there for the ABC-RV programme is a fraud committed on the people of Goa, by the well heeled and well protected, who mostly live in secure homes and move about safely in vehicles, the victims of the fraud being the small children, the weak, the poor, the defenceless,elderly who walk the streets and suffer attacks and bites with the attendant costs and suffering. It is a fraud, the price of which is paid by the poor and defenceless with limb and life. As for the remedial proposal that Hicks speaks about, laws and regulation for licensing of dogs have existed in Goa from pre - liberation years. All that is a needed is strict enforcement, and incentives for owners to sterilize their pets. As for the suggestions calling for laws to make it an offence to abandon an animal, be informed that such law already exists under Chapter III Sec 1 (i) and (j) of prevention of cruelty to Animal Act 1960, and that these sections also apply to the activities of the PFP & IAR and others who insist on abandoning dogs into the public spaces. So Mr. Hicks, why don’t you take your views and your dogs back to UK, and peddle them there instead of forcing yourself on a hospitable and tolerant community. Aires Rodrigues Ribandar
