L'articolo TWO STRAY DOGS, A GOAT AND A BOVINE RECEIVE MEDICAL TREATMENT FROM A VETERINARY OF OIPA LAHORE proviene da OIPA.

L'articolo VACCINATION DRIVE FOR STRAY PUPPIES OF OIPA ISLAMABAD proviene da OIPA.

L'articolo THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF FLOODS IN PAKISTAN. OIPA DELEGATION IN LAHORE IS TRYING TO HELP FLOOD-AFFECTED ANIMALS BUT THEY NEED SUPPORT proviene da OIPA.

The team of OIPA Pakistan for North Punjab has recently launched an awareness campaign entitled “How to help the poor strays” addressed to students of primary and elementary school in rural areas of North Punjab.

The goal is to educate the new generation to respect animals and teach how to assist other living beings who are less fortunate. A speaker provided children basic knowledge and advices on how everybody can easily help strays survive; highlighting which are the basic needs of an animal such as the necessity of receiving food, water and a secure shelter where to rest and recover away from dangers and bad weather conditions.

Additionally, children learned how important is to adopt responsibly, how important is to raise awareness for preventing animal cruelty abuse and how important is to report animal abuse and how important is to rescue lost or injured animals.

☀🐾 Only teaching children the respect and the pure love for animals, we might hope for a brighter future! ☀🐾

L'articolo OIPA PAKISTAN – NORTH PUNJAB LAUNCHES THE AWARENESS CAMPAIGN “HOW TO HELP STRAYS” ADDRESSED TO CHILDREN OF PRIMARY AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL proviene da OIPA.

The Indus River dolphin, locally known as the Bhulan (pronounced bhull-an), is one of the world’s rarest mammals and the second most endangered freshwater dolphin that can be  found only in the Indus River in Pakistan and River Beas, India. These dolphins are grey-brown with a very long beak, a stocky body and extremely small eyes. Their poor vision has evolved as a natural outcome to living in murky water. Like other freshwater dolphins and fishes, they are an important indicator of the health of a river.

Many threats (*) contributed in the past and still contribute to the Indus dolphins’ decline:

HABITAT FRAGMENTATION AND LOSS

Their habitat has been reduced to only one fifth of its historic range and this because of the construction of barrages across the river that divert water for irrigation, which means little areas are left for the dolphins. The construction of barrages has resulted then in habitat fragmentation. Dolphins are no longer found in the lower parts of the Indus River due to water extraction, which dries up downstream channels for several months each year. Some dolphins that have moved downstream are unable to swim back upstream because of strong currents and barrages. Dolphins also become stranded and died without being rescued in over 37,000 miles of irrigation canals, particularly during the low-flow season.

FISHING

An intensification of fishing has also caused a large increase in dolphin deaths from entanglement in fishing gear in the last five years. Fishing nets are set for extended hours and often overnight. Dolphins get trapped in the nets and drown. This accidental capture of the dolphins is known as bycatch.

POACHING

Some communities who rely heavily on fishing think of the Indus River dolphin as competition for fish so poaching still occurs sporadically despite a ban on hunting.

POLLUTION

Untreated sewage from communities that reside along irrigation canals and the banks of the Indus River directly pollutes the water. Washing clothes and utensils in the river also causes pollution. Industrial pollution has allegedly caused a massive quantity of fish deaths in urban areas, which affects the Indus river dolphins’ food supply. Pesticides from sugarcane and cotton crops also pollute the riverbank.

The mission of the project is to end dolphin exploitation and slaughtering and work hard to preserve and restore this gentle species in its own environment.

OIPA Pakistan South Punjab is looking for funds to start the project 👉 Conservation of Indus dolphins Project

(*) Source and photo credits: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/indus-river-dolphin

L'articolo OIPA PAKISTAN – SOUTH PUNJAB PROPOSES A PROJECT FOR THE CONSERVATION OF INDUS RIVER DOLPHINS proviene da OIPA.

The Pakistani government has been recently planning to cull 25,000 stray dogs within the next 60 days. The mass killing has started in the tehsils of Lodhran, Kehror Pakka and Dunyapur under the special directive of Commissioner Javed Akhtar Mahmood.

Many people across the world might not know it, but this is not a method recently introduced in the country. More than 50,000 dogs die every year on the streets of Pakistan and it is the government itself to order the mass killing and poisoning of the animals in almost every city of the country. They are shot or poisoned and then their dead bodies are collected by municipal workers, loaded and piled onto trucks for disposal. Karachi and Lahore have the highest rate of dog killings each year with over 20,000 dogs killed in these two cities alone. For smaller cities, the average rate per year is between 3,000 and 6,000 dogs.

Citizens still believe this cruel and inhumane method is the only solution and many take part in the killings by hanging or poisoning stray dogs on the streets.

As affirmed by Sonia Saher, who runs a sanctuary for rescued street dogs in Pakistan called Stray Animals Safety and Control Authority Pakistan (SASCAP) : “The government of Pakistan has no animal protection laws, no law on criminal offenses against animal abusers and an open policy of killing stray dogs on an annual basis.”

Pakistan being a signatory member of the World Organization on Animal Health (OIE) should ensure the five basic freedoms for animals:

• Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition by ready access to fresh water and food
• Freedom from fear and distress by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.
• Freedom from discomfort by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area
• Freedom from pain, injury and disease by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment
• Freedom to express normal behaviour by providing sufficient space, proper facilities, and company of the animal’s own kind

We have decided to write to the Prime Minister Imran Khan and to the Minister of the Attorney General asking the following:

• stop the legalized mass culling of innocent animals;
• replace this inhumane practise with an ethical TNVR (trap-neuter/spay-vaccination- release) programme;
• work on community awareness;
• establish a cooperation with local and international NGOs that can provide expertise in stray dogs’ management.

Read the letter to the Prime Minister 👉 click here

WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THE CULLING OF STRAY DOGS IN PAKISTAN?

✍️ Write a letter to the PM spm@pmo.gov.pk– info@pmo.gov.pk

You can copy or modify the text below but remember to be always polite! Our objective is to save dogs

“Dear Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan,

I appeal to your kind attention asking to stop the legalized mass culling of stray dogs in your country. It is not acceptable that Pakistan, actively engaged in the United Nation, still uses in 2021 such a cruel and barbaric method against innocent sentient beings, involving in the killings its own citizens instead of educating the community to a pacific coexistence with animals. Please, replace this inhumane practise with an ethical TNVR (trap-neuter/spay-vaccination- release) programme, work to increase community awareness, cooperate with local and international organizations that can provide expertise in stray dogs’ management,  build shelters properly managed in order to keep under control the overpopulation of stray dogs and prevent diseases such as rabies. Follow the recommendations of OIPA and other organizations. Bring a positive change for your actual
and coming generations. Don’t hurt animals anymore.”

L'articolo A MASS CULLING OF STRAYS IN PAKISTAN: 25,000 DOGS EXPECTED TO BE KILLED IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. OIPA INTERNATIONAL WRITES TO THE PRIME MINISTER proviene da OIPA.