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Im a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog, and lone; Im a rough dog, a tough dog, hunting on my own; Im a bad dog, a mad dog, teasing silly sheep; I love to sit and bay the moon, to keep fat souls from sleep...

Dog capture methoDs

CANINE CALL
The number of stray dogs is increasing in every nook and cranny of the country by the day, but the powers-that-be is still groping in the dark about the ways to control the menace. At this juncture, animal lovers tell T A Ameerudheen that it is high time the country devised a proper mechanism to trap the canines, vaccinate them, provide shelter or encourage people to adopt them.

From the poem Lone Dog by Irene Rutherford Mcleod

he immortal poet would have modified the poem had she happened to see the wild dogs in Oman these days! Wild dogs never live alone. Born in mountains, they migrate to the greener pastures in the cities where food and water is available, co-habit with their newfound friends and produce progenies in abundance. They dont even go for hunting on their own. They move in packs and collect food from the garbage boxes. They dont allow dogs from another group to enter their territory. They do not tease silly sheep nowadays. Instead, they chase children and relish human blood and flesh. Stray dogs are literally on the prowl in Oman. They create havoc everywhere, making the lives of thousands of city-dwellers miserable. Last month, a pack of dogs attacked a boy while playing outside his home in Al Mabella and an expatriate labourer in Ghala, in two separate incidents. Now, parents in these areas dont allow their children to go out and play even in broad daylight, while citizens are afraid of dumping their garbage in waste collection boxes swarmed by plenty of hungry dogs with blood red eyes. The situation is turning from bad to worse, but the civic authorities, it seems, still bank on outdated methods to check the menace. Shoot on sight Last week, Justine Frank woke up from his siesta to witness a dreaded scene outside his house. When he heard an unusual sound near his apartment in Ruwi, he pulled up the curtains of his bedroom and looked up to the mountains. He couldnt believe his eyes. Two

Rope

Pole

Lasso

policemen were trying to spray bullets on two hapless dogs. But the cops didnt succeed completely in their mission as they could kill only one dog. The other, despite being hit by a bullet, managed to run away from the vicinity. But I dont have any hopes for its life. It is unfair to shoot dogs. I was shocked to witness the incident, Frank said. Shoot at sight is the only stray dog control

mechanism adopted by the authorities in Oman. No wonder, then, that animal lovers in the Sultanate as well as expatriates are demanding a more compassionate approach in dealing with the stray dog menace. They feel the government has to take the issue seriously. The authorities should not kill these animals. We should adopt internationally accepted best practices to catch and rehabili-

tate stray dogs. Its time the authorities understood the gravity of the issue. If we remain callous, it will go out of our hands, feels Damreez Bin Dawood, who is an animal lover, a pet shop owner and a businessman. Damreez says wild dogs are stronger than their domesticated counterparts. He cited an example to substantiate his argument. When a domestic dog gives birth, the owner or a vet will take measures to prevent unhygienic situations. On the other hand, a wild dog doesnt need help from others and all the progenies will survive no matter what the climatic conditions are. It shows they are very strong. Damreez, who lives close to The Wave, Muscat, feels stray dogs give sleepless nights to people all over the capital. Plenty of dogs roam around the place where I live. My daughter is scared to go out and play. The pack of dogs becomes active at night, and they keep on barking and howling. It disturbs our sleep, he said. At present, the only option I have is to call the police. They will come and shoot them. Some will die on the spot. Other may leave the place with major wounds all over their body, he said adding, The injured dogs will run a few kilometers and might land in someones house, lying in a pool of blood. It may die if it didnt get proper medical attention. So Damreez doesnt agree with the police resorting to this practice. We are living in a modern world. Policemen can shoot dogs in the mountains, if they want to. But it is not wise to do it in populated, residential areas. It will ruin the image of our country. We should imbibe the best practices around the world, he asserted. The stray issue is not limited to plush residential areas. The dogs hamper the work in industrial areas too. At the Sohar Oil Refinery, stray dogs used to scare the employees besides causing major damages to the infrastructure. So I am not against reining in the stray dogs, but it has to be done in a humane way, he added.

LEFT: Stray dogs move around in packs at MBD area during the daytime. TOP: Dogs and cats converge at garbage bins each day for their daily food. BOTTOM: A wild dog from the hills at Wadi Kabir strays into Ruwi. Ismail Al Farsi

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ten Dog facts

Handling
Dog capture and handling should be humane, effective, and safe for both handler and dog. It will make the community and the world a better place. Points to remember while handling the dogs.
Dogs are extremely diverse in both size and shape. For example, there is over a 110-fold difference in weight between the Chihuahua (1kg) and the St Bernard (115kg)

Dog handler should not fight with the dog Dogs are extremely sensitive to humans. Calm and settle yourself and the dog will calm as well. Check the personality of the dog and assess the best approach trying the softest techniques first.

Dogs are intelligent. They can learn the names of their toys Dogs are playful. They use special signals to show they want to play

Dogs are highly social. Many dogs enjoy the company of other dogs, but they will also form strong social bonds to humans, becoming very attached to particular individuals

Dogs use a range of methods to communicate. To transmit scent information, dogs use urine, faeces and secretions from special scent glands Dogs have highly developed senses. They have an incredibly well-developed sense of smell, far superior to humans

Dogs are omnivores. They eat both meat and plant food.

Dogs are naturally inquisitive. They actively seek information about their surroundings and will spend much time investigating and exploring

charity work
Even as his dream project is yet to see the light of the day, Damreez is helping animal lovers to rehabilitate stray dogs as well as abandoned pets. There is an expatriate who takes care of the abandoned pets. Whenever she finds any injured or deserted pets, she takes them to her home. She vaccinates them. When she sought my help to rehabilitate these pets, I readily offered her my support, he said. Thus Damreez has created a separate charity page in his petshops website. It gives details like the names and types of the abandoned creatures for potential adopters.
FOr MOrE dETaiLs

Dogs are mans best friend.best friend. to companionship, some dogs help Dogs are mans In addition In addition to companionship, some their owners in really special ways.really special ways. Assistance dogs can dogs help their owners in Assistance dogs can help blind, deaf and disabled people, deaf and disabled people, whilst alert owners before an help blind, whilst some dogs can even help some dogs can even help alert owners before fit starts. fit starts. epileptic an epileptic

www.petplanet-oman.com/charity.html

Damreez pointed out that Way out people could be encouraged About five years back, Damto adopt puppies or dogs reez had come up with a profrom the kennel houses. If posal that aimed to find a resomebody wants to keep a alistic solution for the vexed pet at home, they can visit issue. It envisaged to utilise the kennel house or the webthe services of professional site to choose a pet of his dog handlers, veterinary exchoice. This is like giving a perts, besides setting up big new life to the dog. A kind of kennel houses in different charity, indeed, he said. parts of the Sultanate. It is important to hire the Win-win situation services of professional dog Damreez feels kennel houses handlers from abroad. They can provide a huge relief to will use ropes, traps and expatriates who are not in tranquilising darts to catch a position to take their pets the dogs. They can identify with them when they leave the nature of the animal at Oman. The foreigners face a a glance, he said explaindilemma as to what to do with ing that the trapped animals their pets when their work can be taken to a veterinary contract expires in Oman. specialist, who will conduct It is very difficult for them thorough inspection and to take their pets with them. give them proper vaccinaReasons are plenty. It may be tion. Later, they can be put the different quarantine pein large kennels which will riods in different countries, have dedicated staff to look exorbitant shipping prices, after them. to mention a few. It had been my aspiration At the height of desperato have two to four emertion, they even call my shop gency dispatch units of dog D amreez B in D awooD to check whether I can accept handlers who will be seen in Proprietor, Pet Planet their pets. But it is imposaction at night. If somebody sible for me to do it as I have spots a stray dog, the person can make a call to our 24X7 helpline number. enough birds and dogs in my shop. So they are We will soon send our teams to the location. But left with the option of abandoning their pets. Thats why we often see cute puppies abanunfortunately, the plan didnt take off, he said. Damreez had met officials from the Mus- doned in Qurum and Petroleum Development cat Municipality and Royal Oman Police and Oman (PDO) areas, Damreez said. If we had kennel houses, this problem apprised them of the virtues of the project. Unfortunately, he didnt get a response, could be taken care of. Those who do not which would have benefited everyone, and want to take their dogs with them can just more importantly the country. The proposal inform us. We will take care of them. It is a had plenty of advantages for the country, its great service to the society, he added. people as well as the expat communities. ameerudheen@hioman.com

We have to accept the fact that the issue of stray dogs is a sensitive one. So we should engage professionals to attend the problem.