Illegal Dog Culling Continues in Rawalpindi Despite Court Ban

Rawalpindi is going against clear court orders banning them from killing dogs for population control. Despite the court deeming it illegal, dogs are being poisoned left and right, with dozens of images surfacing on social media in various Rawalpindi areas.

These cases were initially reported around the Gulshanabad area in Rawalpindi.

Environmental and Animal Rights Consultants Pakistan, Founder Advocate Altamush Saeed, are currently pursuing a case against this in a contempt filed titled Anila Umair vs Imran Ali, currently being heard at the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court, which clearly bans this practice. However, the government keeps violating these orders, continuing its illegal practice of dog culling.

Culling stray dogs has repeatedly proven ineffective as a method of population control, as studies show that killing dogs only creates a “vacuum effect,” where new unvaccinated and unsterilized dogs quickly move into the cleared area, leading to a rebound in population.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and numerous scientific studies emphasize that long-term control is only possible through large-scale neutering, spaying, and vaccination programs. Sterilization directly reduces reproduction rates, while mass dog vaccination, particularly against rabies, creates herd immunity that protects both animals and humans.

Research from India, Sri Lanka, and Latin America demonstrates that community-based sterilization and vaccination campaigns significantly lower stray populations and rabies cases over time, while culling fails to provide sustained results.