Kathmandu According to a survey conducted in March by the Humane Society International (HSI) that works on animal protection issues around the world, the population of street dogs in Kathmandu Valley is approximately 22,000. There are 1,200 road cattle, as per 2016 data of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC). Stray dogs and road cattle are a regular sighting on Kathmandu streets. Dogs sleeping in the middle of roads, dogs roaming in packs in search of food, limping, diseased dogs, cattle chewing plastic at dumping sites or walking down the streets obstructing traffic are a common sight. Street animals roam, and many times own, the Valley roads. Deserted ones Animal husbandry is still in practice in many parts of Kathmandu Valley. People rear cows for milk. As such, heifers are important to such farmers, while male calves are not which lead them to drive these calves to the roads. “Male calves are of no use to the farmers as they don’t give milk. So, if a cow gives birth to a male calf, people leave them on the streets. But it is a different case when it comes to heifer calves,” says Dhanapati Sapkota, Chief of Implementation Division at KMC, showing the causes as to how such cattle reach streets. He gives the reason for such a behaviour. “The usefulness of male calves is more in villages than in cities. They are used to plough the fields. But now even these animals have been replaced by the adoption of modern technology like tractor. In Kathmandu Valley, the utility of these animals is zero, so people leave them on the streets.” Sapkota adds, “Some owners are so heartless that they even abandon five-day-old male calves on the streets. Even heifers that don’t give milk are chased away.” The case of stray dogs is no different. But how do man’s best friends end up on the roads? As per Laxmi Sharma, Chairperson of Kathmandu Animal Treatment (KAT) Centre, “Diseased dogs are abandoned. Even dogs desert their owners for the streets as they are not treated well by the owners. Usually the dogs are not fed and the owners beat them mercilessly.” Lack of knowledge So, many dogs and cattle roam our streets, and this is due to people’s ignorance — people are not aware of animal rights. “There is no legal provision regarding animal’s rights and protection in our country. So, people can do whatever they want and behave as per their wishes,” Sharma says of our nation unlike countries like the USA and the UK. In those countries, the governments allow only those “people who have the capacity to raise animals to keep one. If you want to raise a dog, you must provide training to the dog, consult with the vet and government officials come often to check on the condition of the pet animals”. This is lacking here. Nepal is an agricultural country where livestock is an integral part of many households for ploughing fields, milk and meat. Yet, there is no legal provision regarding the animals. “Our new Constitution has not made any provision regarding these livestock despite our efforts to include the same in the Constitution, which is quite depressing,” states Pramada Shah, President of Animal Nepal adding, “Our political parties and authorities are not concerned about animal rights.” Love for animals Then there are those who love animals. Saroj Maharjan, 31, from Samakhushi is a dog lover. He took four-year-old Sheru “up from the streets because I felt for the puppy”. He is very fond of his dog and “I go on walks with him. I train him, and if he doesn’t listen to me, I also hit him”. Raising Sheru is like raising a child for him. “If we do something wrong, our parents scold us and hit us, but it doesn’t mean they don’t love us. It is same with the dog,” he gives his reason on why he hits his dog. Another animal lover is Sachina Shakya, 28, from Lagankhel. She has two dogs — Lili and Lucy which she bought from a pet shop eight years ago. She loves the dogs so much that “I feel disgusted when people hit dogs mercilessly without any reason. They are innocent animals and can’t even raise their voice against their suffering”. “The government should pay attention to make strong laws to protect animals,” she adds. For 46-year-old Sabitri Poudel, who sells their milk in the city, her one cow and two buffaloes are like “my children”. “I love my cattle more than anyone else. When they get sick, I take them to the vet for check-up,” shares Poudel who thinks it is her duty to look after them in return of their milk. And she would never leave cattle on the streets as “it is a cruel thing to do. Farmers are not cruel, they have a heart too. When you see them growing up in front of your eyes, how can you think of killing them?” Controlling and care efforts To curb the problem of stray animals, KMC is capturing, auctioning and selling road cattle as well as carrying out vaccination programmes for stray dogs. A five-member team of KMC is on duty to capture road cattle from streets to “maintain traffic” and find new owners for them through auction, Sapkota informs. In June, they auctioned 508 male calves and 15 heifers for Rs 100 each, held in KMC where “mostly people from villages come to buy them”. “The only rule to buy them is that the buyers can’t abandon any cattle into Kathmandu City after their purchase. What they do with the animals after they buy them is not our concern,” expresses Sapkota. However, he complains that only they are controlling street animals while other 11 municipalities of Kathmandu Valley are ignoring their duties. He also suggests controlling of semen collection in 120 barns of the Valley to control the birth of calves and thus control the abandonment of male calves. KMC has also partnered with HSI and Jane Goodall Institute Nepal to work for the betterment of stray dogs. In April, they started the Metropolitan Dog Management Programme. “It has been implemented in 35 wards of KMC. Until now, we have provided vaccinations, birth control measures and treatment to up to 80-90 sick and wounded dogs through this programme. We sterilise them, implant microchips and put collars on them and leave them on the streets to control population of stray dogs,” adds Hari Kumar Shrestha, Chief of Urban Health Division, KMC. Singha Durbar area has been declared the first Dog Managed Zone, where “all the dogs have been sterilised and vaccinated, collared and groomed”. KMC used to kill sick dogs to control spread of diseases but they have stopped it due to animal rights issue. Even non-governmental organisations are on this though on a small scale. Animal Nepal is working in Lalitpur to vaccinate and treat dogs, donkeys and horses. KAT Centre is working in Kathmandu city, mainly focusing on vaccinating dogs, caring for sick cattle and stray dogs. Similarly, Street Dog Care ovides care for sick stray dogs who return to the streets after recovery. No proper abattoir Nepal does not have an abattoir. Sharma informs that Nepal is the only country in the world without a humane abattoir, which is a concern with regards to animal suffering. “Animals are transported in packed trucks, these animals are tied to the vehicle through their noses and travel without food and water. After arrival, they are sledgehammered,” she says. “If Nepal wants to flourish in the business of livestock, then they must make legal provisions for the same.” Most people do not know about animal rights and “are not aware about the sufferings of the animals and not ready to accept the idea that animals also suffer like humans” according to Sharma. Teku is the designated place for butchering and slaughtering animals (mainly buffaloes) in the Capital . “It is not exactly a manageable slaughterhouse. It is an open space for slaughtering animals,” Shrestha says. So, the government is also making a “proper slaughterhouse to provide meat to the whole nation. The project will be running within three years in association of the government and local administration. Probably, it will be built in Hetaunda or any other place in Tarai region which will supply meat to whole nation”.