Lawmaker slams BSPCA over stray dogs issue

Manama : A parliamentarian criticised the Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) yesterday, saying “they are not doing their job right” in regards to the stray dogs issue.

MP Ali Al Ateesh criticised the society for not finding a solution for the increasing number of stray dogs in Bahrain and instead “chasing the people who’re trying to solve the issue.”

“The spread of stray dogs in different areas of Bahrain, especially Tubli, is a very disturbing matter. Most of these dogs are frenzied and attack people and pets. Many reports prove the dogs’ attacks and the losses they cause to farm owners and cattle breeders,” Al Ateesh stated.

The MP, who is also heading the council’s Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee, said, “In the past 10 years, BSPCA didn’t suggest any realistic solutions to combat the stray dogs phenomenon. In fact, what it recommended serves the dogs without considering their (stray dogs) victims. The society is even chasing the people who’re attempting to limit this phenomenon.”

Noting the recent gruesome act of killing and burning a couple of dogs in Sitra, Al Ateesh added, “The society lately announced a reward for those who would provide any information about the people who killed the dogs. Burning the dogs like that is certainly a condemned act. The teachings of Islam forbid us from doing such things. But keeping mum about the repeated attacks of stray dogs is also condemned. Why didn’t the society question itself, why would these boys kill the dogs? It is better if the society weighed those reasons and looked for practical and realistic solutions to keep stray dogs away from residential areas.”

As reported by DT News recently, three stray dogs were found chopped up and burnt near a warehouse in Sitra Industrial Area. 

Activists raised up to BD970 for information leading to the capture of the killers. A few days later, the Public Prosecution announced that the culprits are two Bahraini boys aged 10 and 14. 

The prosecution questioned the boys and referred them to a judge and they may possibly be detained in the Social Juvenile Care Centre.