Tuesday 19 / November / 2024
Muscat: People should put a collar on their stray dogs to protect them from being shot, a Royal Oman Police (ROP) official said.
This came after animal activists in Oman condemned the “mindless killings” of canines in the Sultanate.
The ROP said the police officers were only “controlling the dog population” after they had received complaints from residents who were worried that wild dogs may attack their children or pets.
Residents being attacked
“We often receive reports about residents being attacked by dogs,” the ROP source said, explaining that some of these dogs can be very aggressive.
Activists are urging the concerned authorities for immediate action to deal with the growing number of strays in a humane manner by implementing TNR (trap-neuter-return) system “as Oman is a civilised country.”
The ROP clarified that police patrols shoot the stray dogs at dawn using soundproof weapons so that people are not disturbed.
However, Omani animal activist Nada Al Moosa said in the last four years, she has never come across aggressive dogs.
“All the dogs I met were scared, timid and shy! So I don’t understand why people get them killed!” she said.
She also said police officers shoot the dogs in broad daylight and sometimes in close proximity to humans which scares them and can have a negative impact on tourism in Oman.
Campaigners started on Saturday two hashtags, namely, #dangerous_wadi_dogs and #their_lives_matter, so that people who have, or encounter a wadi dog share images of them happy in safe homes.
“Today and every day, the government fails these strays who did not ask to be born here. Every person who can foster but won’t, every person who would buy a dog instead of adopting, every person who left Oman and abandoned their dog, every person who can donate but doesn’t, every person who doesn’t want harmless dogs where they live, as if this earth was made only for them, every person who ever picked up the phone to call the police to get rid of dogs, everyone who can help one way or another but chooses not to, have failed these helpless souls,” Al Moosa said in a Facebook post.
“These dogs died because they were harmless and trusting, they didn’t run scared when they saw the police car pull over, they didn’t hide!” she added.
Another expat activist said the ever increasing dog population in Oman is a problem and “unfortunately the TNR system has not made a significant difference yet.”
“The shooting of dogs because of complaints is something I still cannot deal with. It is done when puerile people complain about the strays and this is the only way the municipality handles the issue,” he said.
Activists are sharing images of fostered wild dogs to show the world that they can be adopted as pets.
