Grappling with an over-sized stray dog population as well as a rabies scare, Tabanan regency decided to take matters into its own hands with dog culling.
Tabanan’s Department of Animal Husbandry performed a mass elimination in Gunung Salak Village and Megati Village, East Selemadeg, taking out 51 stray dogs, reports Tribun Bali.
Tribun’s report did not specify how the dogs were killed, but the culling seemed to be planned and publicized beforehand, as local villagers reportedly had bound up and brought their own dogs inside. (Often, reports of culling claim the eliminations are done in the dead of night away from the public eye.)
Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry East Selemadeg Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD) Wayan Wira says ceremonies were done before and after the challenging culling—challenging because the dogs often ran way and officers had to chase them through fields and cliffs. (Because they were clearly running for their lives. So sad.)
Wira justified the culling, explaining that in the month of August 2015, three calfs died from being bitten by stray dogs in the village of Gunung Salak.
Head of Tabanan Livestock (Pemkab) I Wayan Kotio estimates there are 45,000 dogs in Tabanan, 29,400 of which that have been vaccinated.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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