Toddler Dies After Eating Poisoned Sweets Meant For Killing Stray Dogs

A two-year-old child died after consuming poisoned sweets intended to kill stray dogs in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi. Police have arrested a district official after six children sneaked the sweets from his parked bike and fell sick. 

Police confirmed that the five other children were hospitalised shortly after the incident on Dec 13. Their condition has since improved and they have returned home. 

Despite pushback from animal rights groups, municipal authorities in Pakistan’s cities continue to run dog culling campaigns by shooting or poisoning dogs with tablets hidden in meat and sweets. 

According to the authorities, the campaigns are in response to the threat of rabies and dog bites, with cases reaching alarming rates. Every year, about 300,000 dog bite cases are reported in Pakistan, while approximately 6,000 people die from the rabies infection. 

Authorities have responded by killing more than 50,000 stray dogs year after year. The highest rates of dog culling have been reported in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan’s largest cities. 

According to a Sindh government report, 25,419 dogs were culled in the province from June to September of 2021. Around 3,864 dogs were killed in Karachi alone. The Sindh rabies control program says there are 28 million stray dogs in the province.

The accused, Munawar Abdullah, had parked his bike outside his house and left poisoned laddus in its side pocket. Children playing in the street noticed the yellow ball-shaped sweets, took them home and ate them. Their health began to deteriorate shortly after. Two-year old Moon Waqas did not survive. Abdullah has been placed under judicial remand. 

“He is a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation supervisor who was conducting a dog culling campaign to get rid of stray dogs in the area. The tablet had been issued under orders by the district director. We have heard that the district and deputy directors have been suspended,” local police officer Safdar Mashwani told VICE World News.

Animal rescue groups were outraged by the tragic incident. “This is the most despicable, disgusting and vile way for anyone to sentence anyone to death. The fact that innocent children and animals have had to pay the price for the heartlessness and cruelty of adults is disgusting,” ACF Animal Rescue founder and CEO Ayesha Chundrigar told VICE World News. 

Animal rescue workers say the culling campaign is not only inhumane but also completely ineffective. 

Pressure from animal rights groups had led the local government to announce initiatives to adopt vaccination and neutering programs as an alternative to dog culling. In June, the Sindh government launched a vaccination and neutering initiative packaged at Rs. 1 billion (around $5 million). Despite this, little progress has been reported and dog culling campaigns have continued. 

“What is required is to stop culling once and for all. If there are case studies from all over the world that neutering and vaccinating is the only way that they have managed and controlled stray dog populations in every other country, why do we think that we are special in how we use these horrible and violent methods?” said  Chundrigar. 

“We just want a quick fix, for it to be out of sight and out of mind. If we actually want to solve the stray dog population situation, which is growing in numbers, then we actually need a little foresight and there has to be long-term planning.” 

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