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Few days back there was a malicious, false and biased report in TOI against dogs and against ABC. COunter productive crap from TOI is really unfortunate. Please get your act together TOI you have no idea how hard so many of us try just keep humans and animals safe from each other. If you are so worried about humans only kindly help us in ABC with providing funding and seeing it through. We would be the happiest if a powerful media service like yours takes active interest and makes an actualy difference for the better.
Please check the absolute false and biased TOI report and also the fitting reply by AWBI and show cause notice.
THROUGH REGISTERED POST A.D. AND THROUGH COURIER
28th March, 2011
To
1. Ms. Risha Chitlangia
C/o Times of India, Times Group
Risha.chitlangia@timesgroup.com
2. Mr. Subhendu Mukherjee
Times of India Editor City Pages
Shubhendu.mukherjee@timesgroup.com
3. The Editor in Chief, Times of India
4. Mr. Jug Suraiya, Associate Editor
5. Mr. Vineet Jain
6. Mr. Samir Jain
7. Mrs. Indu Jain
8. Mr. Ravi Dhariwal
All of the above at :
7, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
Darya Ganj
Delhi
And
Subject : Times of India , Delhi Edition, spreading misinformation and falsehoods
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you in my capacity as Chairperson of the Animal Welfare Board of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests, which is a statutory body established under the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
The Board’s attention has been drawn to a very dubious article published in the Times of India, Delhi edition dated 26th March, 2011, titled
‘500 dog bite cases every day in Delhi
Residents Say Stray Population Increasing Despite Sterilization Campaign’.
In fact, the Board received myriad complaints yesterday, from concerned citizens, questioning the veracity of the ‘facts’ sought to be projected by the article. Some volunteers therefore questioned authoritative M.C.D. sources, and other persons
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mentioned in the article such as Mrs. Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder and Vice-President, Friendicoes SECA ; and it is on the basis of the startling responses received from them, completely belying your contentions, that I address this communication to you.
You are requested to kindly apprise us :
1) How do you affirmatively contend that there are 500 dog bite cases every day in Delhi ?
What is the source of your ‘data’?
In fact, there is no organization or entity within the city of Delhi , whether Governmental or otherwise, that is maintaining any such data.
Moreover, bites can be stray dog bites, or pet dog bites ; and merely the sale of anti-rabies vaccine is not reflective of number of bites, since any person bitten or even scratched by a dog, may take up to 5 injections.
2) You say that ‘Despite Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) sterilization campaign, the population of dogs is multiplying’.
Please reveal the basis of this information. Has any census been conducted by you?
In fact, all areas of Delhi in which there are N.G.O.s sterilizing dogs, are showing a marked reduction in the population of these animals.
You probably do not know Madam (and did not bother to study this subject either, before circulating your inflammatory and baseless article) that even the WHO’s latest report on rabies, i.e. the ‘WHO EXPERT CONSULTATION ON RABIES’, published in the year 2005 under the WHO Technical Report Series, specifically states that,
à dogs breed so prolifically that even the highest recorded removal rate – removing 15% – does not significantly impact their population, or reduce the spread of rabies ; and
à sterilization programmes systematically followed in several countries have shown encouraging results, with dog populations, and the number of human rabies cases, reducing.
That is to say, dislocating dogs, and dumping anywhere, including into shelters, only makes it easier for the ones that remain to fill in the vaccum by breeding more intensively. On account of the additional food sources thereby made available to a smaller number, the dogs that remain and proliferate more, with larger litter sizes. The vacuum or ‘dog free’ territories created by dislocation are rapidly filled up by new dogs. Dislocation / removing dog doesn’t therefore solve the problem even to a small extent.
Moreover, under the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001, enacted under the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, sterilization and immunization are
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the methods that can be resorted to in order to control stray dog population, and control the spread of rabies. Dislocation of dogs is not permitted, and after sterilization and vaccination the dogs have to be returned back to the location that they were picked up from to facilitate systematic area-wise animal birth control. If done properly, and on the requisitely large scale, this method works because dogs, being highly territorial in nature, fight off other dogs from entering their territories.
Be that as it may, what is very serious is :
A. You state that ‘M.C.D. officials say that there is an urgent need for special dog shelters, so that aggressive dogs can be kept there.’ You have however conveniently omitted to mention names.
Your statement is an untruth, and any informed M.C.D. official concerned with this aspect cannot, and will not have said so. Our volunteers have spoken with Dr. Alok Agarwal, Veterinary Officer, Rabies Control and Member Secretary, Society for Stray Canine Birth Control, Municipal Corporation of Delhi , and a copy of this communication is marked to him.
B. Moreover, Ms. Geeta Seshamani has confirmed that she never made the statements being attributed to her. Moreover, the calls that she gets during a single day, related to dogs, are usually about injured dogs, sick dogs, hit and run cases, abandoned pets, and all of this was specifically stated to you in response to your question. A copy of this communication is marked to her.
YOUR STATEMENT THAT ‘EVEN NGOS AGREE WITH THIS DEMAND OF THE CIVIC AGENCY’ IS A BLATANT FALSEHOOD. There is no such demand by the civic agency, and the NGOs participating in animal birth control do not ‘agree’ with any such thing. Your article is in fact a petty, malicious attempt to sabotage the animal birth control program, and you are obviously acting at the behest of some interested parties.
Before concluding, I deem it appropriate to warn you against resorting to sensationalized, badly researched articles that seem almost to be aimed at spreading and exacerbating irrational fear. The Board’s lawyers have advised us that if this manner of reporting continues, we shall be well within our rights to present our grievances, and complain to the Press Council of India against you, in addition to resorting to other legal options for obtaining redress.
I trust that I have made myself clear.
You would also be well advised to disclose the ‘source’ of your information (or lack of it).
Yours sincerely
(Dr. R.M. Kharb)
Maj. Gen. (Retd.), AVSM
Chairman, AWBI
Copies to:
1. Commissioner, MCD, Delhi .
2. Dr. Alok Agarwal, Veterinary Officer, Rabies Control And Member Secretary, Society for Stray Canine Birth Control, Municipal Corporation of Delhi , email: sscbcmcd@gmail.com
3. Ms. Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder and Vice-President, Friendicoes SECA, New Delhi . email: geetaseshamani@hotmail.com
Hiranmay Karlekar