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Stray dog problem

1K views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  JoanneF 
#1 ·
Background (PLEASE READ): I live in an impoverished country that does not have any form of animal control services or animal shelters/pounds. My neighborhood has been suffering from a stray dog problem for a while now where several stray dogs are residing in the area and harassing residents... Recently however the situation has gotten way worse because of the quarantine; the streets are almost always empty, and so more dogs have came into the area and the whole pack is now much more territorial and aggressive. Early this morning one of my senior neighbors was attacked by a group of about 10 dogs, they circled him barking and continuously kept trying to take away a bag in his hand which contained food, and if it weren't for the intervention of two passerby's those dogs would have most definitely tore that man into shreds.
I am left with the difficult decision of killing those dogs, now I'm asking you for an effective and hopefully non-painful way to put them down. Note what I said earlier about where I live, I do not have access to firearms or any sort of animal traps, the only poisons available are rat poison and insecticides. Any help is appreciated.
If this isn't the right place to ask, please direct me to where I can ask such a question. Thank you.
 
#2 ·
I'm not sure anyone who posts here regularly would have the capacity to advise you on this. I appreciate the difficulty, perhaps a good start would be to make sure no food is available to the dogs either in what is being thrown away, or being carried like your neighbour was doing.
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your reply and appreciation Joanne. 🙏 I don't think there's much food (if any) that gets thrown away, the garbage collector takes the trash directly from apartments to his truck so I've never really seen anything thrown away. As for food carrying, I don't think that is an option because I can't stop other residents from ordering takeout or having groceries delivered for example. It is especially difficult in the case of a few of my neighbors who are elderly people and continuously need supplies delivered to them.
 
#4 ·
Hello, sorry to update this old thread but I'm really desperate for advice.

Since I last posted here the situation has only gotten worse, and there have been several incidents. For example the little daughter of one of the residents got attacked and bitten by street dogs on the way home from school, but luckily it wasn't serious. Another resident wasn't as lucky when her toddler was bitten in the face by one dog and sustained serious injuries, while she herself got bitten trying to shoo the dog. But the unluckiest was this man who was walking his puppy as usual, when they got attacked by a pack of dogs, and although the man was unharmed the puppy unfortunately died...

We (other residents and I) have repeatedly called the police, and after several ignored calls we finally managed to get through to a high ranking officer. He sympathized but straight up told us that there's nothing the police can do, as they are not trained to deal with street dogs. And of course using their firearms is out of the question... I can't blame him, this is supposed to be the job of government-funded animal control, but we don't have that. At least not anymore.

I am all out of options. These dogs have to be killed, there is absolutely no other way. So please, I'm begging you, if you can advise me on this do get in touch. You will be literally saving lives.
 
#5 ·
Again, I'm really sorry and I do sympathise.

I honestly don't know a way of humanely euthanising stray dogs other than capturing them and taking them to a vet. I suspect most of our members will be the same.

Can you contact a vet in your area and see if they can suggest something?
 
#7 ·
Thank you. We already contacted multiple vets and they only euthanize (singular) pets at their own discretion, if and only if the pets are terminally ill and in pain. They completely refuse to deal with street dogs...
Perhaps I should clarify that these street dogs are not lost/abandoned pets, they are wild dogs native to the sahara and they are quite dangerous by nature, and when they contract rabies they become killing machines. So it's only fair that vets want nothing to do with them. They look like this.

Do you have a municipal cooperation? If so get in touch with them they should be able to help.
There are a few ways to make your area or street less attractive to the dogs.. I know this wont kill them it will move them on but it should give you some breathing space ..
  • Citrus- Dogs find the smell of citrus horrendous. ...
  • Cayenne Peppers- Though cayenne peppers will not harm your dog, it will irritate its eyes, nose and throat. ...
  • Vinegar-Dogs strongly dislike the odor of vinegar. ...
  • Ammonia- Ammonia is the most effective dog repellent.
Im not sure what country you are in but most have some kind of humane society or rescue organisation who might alsobe able to help if its only to tell you how to get rid of these dogs.

Lastly while I know its a bad situation try to rememeber, Its not the dogs fault humans have allowed them to breed and they are now just hunting for food because humans have let them down.
We don't have any form of municipal cooperation I'm afraid. I live in Egypt and I can't begin to describe how disorganized and chaotic this country is. We have no proper system of governance, most officials are powerless and the few who aren't simply don't care. 200,000 people get bitten by dogs annually and about 60 of them die, yet no one bats an eye. We're a third world country for very good reasons...
Peppers and Ammonia may be effective repellents against one dog in a dire situation, but not a pack of 10 dogs attacking at once which is usually the case. However you have given me an idea; maybe there are substances which dogs are attracted to and would ingest that are fatal to them, do you know any? I heard antifreeze is one such substance however it is not sold in Egypt because we're a very hot country.
Humane societies / organizations are practically nonexistent here due to financial and political reasons, so that's not an option sorry. I completely understand that this is humans' fault and I would have opted for not killing the dogs if that was an option, but it just isn't and won't be during my lifetime or even my grandchildren's lifetime. 😔
 
#6 ·
Do you have a municipal cooperation? If so get in touch with them they should be able to help.
There are a few ways to make your area or street less attractive to the dogs.. I know this wont kill them it will move them on but it should give you some breathing space ..
  • Citrus- Dogs find the smell of citrus horrendous. ...
  • Cayenne Peppers- Though cayenne peppers will not harm your dog, it will irritate its eyes, nose and throat. ...
  • Vinegar-Dogs strongly dislike the odor of vinegar. ...
  • Ammonia- Ammonia is the most effective dog repellent.
Im not sure what country you are in but most have some kind of humane society or rescue organisation who might alsobe able to help if its only to tell you how to get rid of these dogs.

Lastly while I know its a bad situation try to rememeber, Its not the dogs fault humans have allowed them to breed and they are now just hunting for food because humans have let them down.
 
#8 ·
I'm sorry I can't help any further it goes against my very beliefs to think or help anyone to kill an animal in such a painful and disgusting manner .. if you were talking about euthanizing them painlessly and humanely that's a different matter but poisoning with antifreeze other such chemicals that is a horrible painful excruciating way to die , you wouldn't wish that on your worst enemy and I wouldn't wish that on any dog..

Again maybe instead of looking at the dogs you need to start blaming and campaigning to your local government, blame the people who leave litter, blame people who blatantly leave food available for the animals , because the fact of the matter is if there is no food there will be no dogs.... it's the same in London a major city in a first world country which is overrun with foxes they are only there because of the slovenly habits of people throwing food on the floors. Stop the bad habits of humans you stop the stray dog problem.
 
#9 ·
Painfully killing any living creature is the last thing I want to do, I'm sorry if I implied that in any way. I have not dealt with antifreeze in my life and from what I heard it's painless, but obviously I'm wrong. I apologize for my ignorance... Please understand that "blaming the local government" is not a solution in Egypt; we are a very poor country and the system is both dysfunctional and oppressive, trying to make any form of change will not only be futile but will also be dangerous. We are living in a complete hellhole and my posts here are nothing but a cry for help to save my life and my neighbors' lives... And from what you're saying it's already a gargantuan effort trying to prevent people in a first world country from littering, trying the same in a third world country will be utterly impossible. And for the record my neighborhood is relatively very clean and we have regular garbage collection unlike many parts of Egypt, yet here we are... Put yourself in my shoes.

Sorry again.
 
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