Mr Ashraf said the city government was trying to keep up with the increasing number of complaints about stray dogs in the city and killed dogs all year round, but still the city was loaded with them. The city government killed 16,928 dogs last year and was on course for more this year, he said.

He said the population of stray dogs got its food from garbage heaps, butcher shops and other places. The dogs are disposed of by feeding them bones coated with Strychnine, a poison. It takes them eight to ten minutes to die, depending on their physical fitness and natural immunity. But, Mr Ashraf said, "We simply have to shoot them if they do not respond to the bait."

Mr Ashraf said the opeote he said. "But it is our duty to kill them and it is for the safety of the public as well."

Mr Hussain said the average stray bitch gave birth to seven or eight puppies, which grew to full size in ten months. He said many of these dogs housed infectious diseases and passed them on to humans. "Nobody can tell when a stray dog is infected with a contagious disease until it bites and infects them," he said. -Staff Report

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