The Sindh High Court on Wednesday gave the government 15 days to come up with a solution to control the overpopulation of stray dogs in the province.

The ‘Fight against rabies and population control of street dogs’ programme launched by the local government last month has not even completed its first phase yet, the court said.

The Local Government Secretary Roshan Sheikh said,

“Some complications in the programme have to be sorted out. We are making a welfare hostel that will take care of these stray dogs.”

The court criticized the secretary’s statement and said that there are hundreds of homeless people on the roads. Making a hostel for stray dogs is impractical, said the judges.

The court ordered the government to increase the provision of anti-rabies vaccines at all major hospitals throughout the province and adjourned the hearing till December 20.

In regards to anti-rabies vaccines and neutering of dogs, Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho held the local government accountable for answering all the questions.

This year, 24 people have died because of dog bites and more than 197,000 dog bite cases have been reported across Sindh.

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