Furious farmers in Tirupur seek action on stray dogs preying on livestock

COIMBATORE: Life came to a shocking jolt for farmer D Prakash from Mulanur, a nondescript village in Dharapuram in Tirupur, when his most dreaded nightmare came true, a few months ago.

On that day, around 8 am, the 35-year-old farmer, accompanied by his father, mother, and a few other workers, was busy plucking drumsticks from trees on the farm.

“After filling up a few sacks with vegetables, we went to the cattle shed, at the end of our farm, to take the goats for grazing. To our shock, we discovered the tragic death of our goats in a dog attack. Their carcasses lay strewn around and some were battling for life with deep bite injuries around their neck. A pack of stray dogs made their way into the fenced shed by burying the earth beneath and mauled 32 goats to death, while some 40 others managed to survive. In the previous night, seven goats were killed by stray dogs on a nearby farm,” said Prakash.

Rearing cattle remains his family’s ancestral job, and Prakash grew up seeing those goats when he was a child.

“Our entire family was dependent on the earnings made through rearing cattle,” he said.

Even as his family was struggling to recover from the loss of cattle, another trauma unfolded in the next few days as his father Duraisamy (59), died of a heart attack, in the early morning hours on September 6.

Recollecting the tragedy with a heavy heart, the farmer said, “My father was extremely depressed over the loss of cattle as he was emotionally attached to them. His death left us all shattered beyond words.”

“If it had been either a leopard or tiger, they would have lifted only one goat. Perhaps, the 'theru' (street) dogs have now become ‘veri’ (ferocious) dogs. Ours was the first instance, wherein a post-mortem was conducted by veterinarians from the Animal Husbandry Department to confirm that the cattle were killed in a dog attack and the revenue department has also certified their numbers,” he added.

From then on all dog kills were autopsied by veterinarians and listed out for compensation. Even though the farmers were demanding a minimum compensation of Rs 12,000 for each goat as per the market value, a Government Order (GO) is yet to be passed in this regard. The problem is also more profound in parts of Erode district.

Farmers attribute the population explosion of street dogs to be the root cause behind the issue. Notably, most of the incidents of dog attacks have happened at night. To prevent dogs from entering the sheds by burying the earth below, farmers in the region have started to erect hollow block structures, but they knew it was not a permanent solution.

“Because the location of sheds needs to be shifted periodically, else the dampness in the soil due to urination and faecal matter by the livestock may cause infection to goats. Until two decades ago, the dogs were captured and killed by administering the injection, if an area witnessed a spurt in dog population. Ever since such practices were suspended citing animal cruelty, the population of dogs started to increase and has almost reached a saturation point now,” said K Murugan, another farmer.

P Velusamy, president of PAP Vellakovil Branch Canal (Kangayam-Vellakovil) Water Conservation Association said, “Dogs have developed a flavour for goat’s blood due to consumption of raw meat waste disposed of in open by meat stalls without adhering to proper norms.”

Further, it has become a common practice for individuals from cities to abandon their dogs in rural areas. Also, efforts taken towards controlling the dog population have also failed to yield desired results in rural areas, farmers say.

Just a couple of dogs may kill around 40 goats within two hours. “Even on our farm, the dogs killed 16 goats recently in two different incidents. It was a loss of Rs 1.60 lakh,” Velusamy added.

Unfortunately, farmers who vent their anger by beating up the dogs tend to face the wrath of the police. In August, last year, around 18 villagers were booked for hanging two dogs by their necks in trees after they went on an attack spree against cattle in Mulanur. The action was taken based on a complaint by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Farmers say their hands are now tied with no solution in sight for dog kills.

“Over 2,000 livestock have died in Tirupur and Erode districts in the last year due to dog attacks. So far, the death of cattle may have led to a monetary loss of over Rs two crore to farmers. Even though sporadic attacks used to happen even a few years ago, the farmers didn’t raise the issue over lack of compensation,” said Velusamy, who is coordinating the farmers in their protest over the issue.

Loss of livestock due to dog attacks has become a routine affair in Kangeyam, Vellakovil, Dharapuram and Uthukuli areas in Tirupur and parts of Erode. Therefore, protests against dog kills have also become more vociferous after every major incident of attack. In the 27 gram sabhas in Tirupur district alone, resolutions were passed and black flags were hoisted in every village against dog menace.