Rabies claims another life in Karachi as calls for humane dog culling mount

2026-03-29 - 04:30

• 42-year-old rickshaw driver was sole breadwinner and father of three • Experts urge govt to relocate all dogs from streets to shelters with animal rights activists’ support • Absence of life-saving RIG at most hospitals termed unacceptable KARACHI: As the city lost another life to rabies on Saturday, raising the tally to seven this year, medical experts expressed their utter disappointment over the persistent government failure in addressing the public health crisis triggered by a massive increase in dog population across Karachi, while calling for humane dog culling as the last resort to provide immediate relief to hapless citizens. The latest victim, a 42-year-old rickshaw driver and resident of a Garden locality, was the sole breadwinner and father of three. Family sources said that the patient was “treated” at a major government tertiary care hospital in Saddar for serious dog bite injuries over a month ago. Two weeks back, they said, he developed fever, restlessness and pain at the wound site, forcing them to take him to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) first and then to the Indus Hospital. “He reported to us yesterday with fever, altered mental status, increased salivation and hydrophobia (fear of water). The clinical picture was consistent with rabies and he fell unconscious within one hour of his admission,” said Aftab Gohar, Manager Rabies Prevention and Training Centre, Indus University Hospital. According to Mr Gohar, also the Technical Lead Rabies, Indus Hospital and Health Network, the multiple injuries were all deep “Category three wounds”, requiring immediate administration of rabies immunoglobulin (RIG) along with the vaccine. “He received initial injections elsewhere (undocumented) with no history of adequate wound washing or RIG administration,” he said and emphasised the need for public awareness about the life-threatening risks involved in a dog-bite. According to officials, over 5,000 dog-bite cases have been reported this year alone at the Indus Hospital, which has seen five rabies cases so far. Last year, 22 people, about half of them hailing from the interior parts of Sindh, lost their lives to rabies at three government hospitals in Karachi alone; JPMC, Indus Hospital and Civil Hospital Karachi. ‘Poor man’s life has no worth’ Commenting on the situation, doctors representing the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) said the cases of dog-bite and rabies remained highly underreported as often victims opted for traditional “remedies” and the disease was misdiagnosed even at hospitals. The government, they said, had the sole responsibility to control dog population and protect human lives. “No one should die of a disease like rabies that’s easily preventable with prompt post-exposure prophylaxis that stops the virus from reaching the central nervous system. “It’s absolute government failure at multiple levels — continued absence of measures to control dog population and lack of efforts to equip hospitals with life-saving medicines and training medical practitioners in post-exposure prophylaxis — that have brought us to a point where humane killing of dogs seems unavoidable,” said Dr Mirza Ali Azhar. The government, he said, should identify hotspot areas with the help of hospitals’ data and carry out humane culling of dogs at a limited scale. “It should be a one-time exercise effectively backed by serious short and long term measures to control dog population”, Dr Azhar emphasised. The association, he noted, had raised this issue several times, urging the government to remove all dogs on the streets and place them in shelters where they could be fed and neutered with the help of animal rights activists but to no avail. “No action is on the ground despite so many deaths and dog-bite cases. This is so because poor man’s life has no worth. It’s ironic nobody talks about the psychological scars the dog-bite victims carry throughout their lives or even the troubles families face after losing their loved ones.” Seconding his opinion, Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said that dog population had increased so much that these animals had become a constant threat to people in the street, especially children, and it’s the government responsibility to protect them. “One key reason why we are seeing growing cases of rabies is the absence of RIG at most hospitals. This is unacceptable. The dog-bite victims reporting at government hospitals are dying of rabies a month later. “We demand that the government provide life-saving medicines at all hospitals and set up a fund to compensate the dog-bite victims and those who are losing their loved ones to rabies. Animal rights activists should also contribute to the fund and help support the victim families,” he said, adding that the government could also think of exporting dogs, if their culling seemed as a brutal option. Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2026