Our apartment is on the 4th floor which diminishes the constant barking of the thousands of nomadic dogs that inhabit the city. Culling dogs is not OK in a Buddhist society, the last attempt to cull was thwarted when all the residents hid the stray dogs in their houses on the night of the announced dog cull. The new “catch, sterilise, and release” program will take some years to control the dog population. We have to learn the “bad dog” streets where they attack people in packs – but this seems manageable. although a 4 year old was attacked inside an apartment building last week by a rabid dog and our 13 year old had to receive rabies post exposure prophylaxis after being bitten by a fiesty stray puppy that was terrorising his school - luckily he received pre-exposure vaccination in Australian and only needed two shots.
A Bhutanese lama was asked what can be done about the dog problem - the questioner suggesting it was all very good to respect buddhist principles regarding not killing, however, this was practical matter and a real problem. The lama answered - "how wonderful to live in a country that manifests problems such as this out of compassion, we should rejoice at this wonderful problem."
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