Save the strays

The mysterious death of stray dogs in a tony Delhi neighbourhood comes right on heels of the Capital’s first stray census

Last week, 18 stray dogs were found poisoned in Nizamuddin East, an artsy neighbourhood dotted with gardens and ruins. Some of them died. “It’s very sad,” says Arman Ali, whose C-Block house in the neighbourhood serves as night shelter for a stray. “Probably someone from the neighbourhood did it,” he added.

“It’s a terrible thing to happen,” says writer Sonia Jabbar as she stroked her boxer, Zoe, in her A-block apartment. “One is not sure if it was intentional poisoning but if it was, it’s criminal.”

The incident, ironically, comes in the wake of Delhi’s first ever census of stray dogs. With the 2010 Commonwealth Games as their perspective, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had conducted the census early this year. The survey was done by NGO, Wildlife SOS.

The survey reveals that Delhi has a total population of 2,62,740 stray dogs. In the areas under the MCD, the population is 2,52,000, while there are 7,630 in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area. Now with the mysterious deaths in Nizamuddin East, that number has gone down. Hopefully, most of Delhi still value its dogs, stray or not. Check the pictures.

With inputs from IANS