Over 700 dogs have been culled by officials in Pakistan's city of Karachi in an attempt to curb stray dog attacks on thousands of people every year.
"At least 700 dogs have been killed only in two areas of Karachi's south in the last couple of days," said Sattar Javed, a spokesman for the municipal authority.
Dogs were culled in the whole of District South, including Saddar and Lyari, DMC South administrator Muhammad Naeem, told the Express Tribune. He said that they chose midnight of Wednesday and Thursday to carry out the gruesome task, because meat markets are closed on Wednesdays due to which dogs don't get anything to eat.
The team took advantage of the situation and left pieces of poisoned meat in different streets. "We made sure that no children were nearby," Naeem said, adding that their team was present in the district to keep an eye on the situation.
Officials said that hundreds of stray dogs had been culled in the operation that started this week across the city but did not have the exact numbers.
Animal rights activists in Pakistan have criticised this operation, while Mohammad Zahid, a city official said that it was necessary because strays posed a threat to local residents, Reuters reported.
Jinnah Hospital in Karachi had last year treated 6,500 people bitten by dogs. This year, 3,700 cases have already been reported, Dr. Seemin Jamali, head of the emergency room in the hospital told the news agency.
