Kirkuk incentivizes capturing stray dogs to stem growing population

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Local Kirkuk authorities announced a reward program that would pay a nominal amount of money to anyone who rescues stray dogs and takes them to animal shelters, Kurdistan 24 has learned. 

The less-than-one-acre-shelter, which is planned to be constructed within 2-3 months, is the first of its kind in the oil-rich province, in a bid to control the rising number of the stray dog population. 

According to Hawre Zangana, the mayor’s administrator, the program would pay anyone that turns in a stray dog 3,000 IQD ($2). 

“It is an offer for those who are unemployed or work at the dump sites,” Zangana said, hailing the project as a “new approach” to control the wild animal population.

The mass culling of stray dogs publicized by local authorities provoked the ire of dog lovers, slamming the cruel method of population control.

A government-sponsored campaign killed more than 3,000 stray dogs in three months, the cost of which is estimated to be 10 million IQD ($6,600).

“You cannot completely remove all dogs because it would disturb the biodiversity balance,” Abbas Khalid, a Kirkuk veterinarian, told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday.

More than 5,000 stray dogs live in Kirkuk, according to figures Kurdistan 24 has obtained from local officials.

The growing wild dog population and the frequency of dog attacks have led to major concerns among the city’s residents, who have urged the government to take immediate measures to stem the issue.

Nearly 50 complaints have been filed in the last three months regarding dog bites in the city, according to statistics Kurdistan 24 has obtained. 

A pack of stray dogs recently attacked a toddler in a residential compound in Erbil, the Kurdistan Region’s capital, seriously wounding the child.

The over-crowded dog shelters in Erbil, built and maintained by animal organizations and dog lovers, are unable to accommodate the ever-increasing population.

The Region lacks a spay-and-neuter program, which animal rights activists and medics argue is the safest way to control the growing population. The lack of funding has been the main pediment to creating such a mechanism.

Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 Kirkuk Correspondent Hemin Dalo