PTI lawmaker calls for 'grand operation' against stray dogs in Karachi

• PTI's MPA from PS-97 Korangi, Raja Azhar Khan, pens letter to Karachi Commissioner Naveed Ahmed Shaikh and other top officials.
• Khan demands a "grand operation" against stray dogs be initiated in Karachi in his letter.
• Mentions that "I say this with much regret that my request fell on deaf ears of all the relevant officers."
• More than 27,000 dog-bite cases have been reported over the past three years.

KARACHI: A PTI lawmaker in Sindh Assembly has called for a "grand operation" against stray dogs in Pakistan's financial capital through a letter to the city's top officials.

Raja Azhar Khan — the ruling PTI's MPA from PS-97 Korangi — penned a letter Wednesday to the metropolis' commissioner, Naveed Ahmed Shaikh, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Administrator Laeeq Ahmed, the deputy commissioner for Korangi, Shehryar Memon, and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Korangi Creek Cantonment Board.

In his letter, Khan has demanded that a "grand operation" against stray dogs be initiated in Karachi.

Despite constantly asking relevant officers to address the growing population of "stray and mad dogs from the city of Karachi and my constituency, PS-97, in particular" for the past two-and-a-half years, there has been no action in this regard, he lamented.

"I say this with much regret that my request to all the relevant officers fell on deaf ears," he wrote, adding that an immediate redressal was of "paramount importance".

"The population of these dogs has grown so much that there are five to 10 stray dogs in every street," he noted, adding that fixing the issue was the top officials' responsibility since "we, the people's representatives, can only apprise the top officials of the citizen's problems".

"It's alarming to think about when the top officials would understand their responsibilities and when would the top officials respond to problems identified by public representatives.

"I request you once again that for God's sake, the public is deeply disturbed by the rising number of dog-bite cases. A grand operation should immediately be initiated against these stray and mad dogs and protection be provided to the citizens immediately," he wrote.

It is noteworthy that over the last three years, more than 27,000 dog-bite cases have been reported, with the Sindh government neutering the canines instead of culling them.