All of a sudden, a car slows down and then takes off at high speed leaving behind a stray dog or a cat and sometimes both. Damchu, under Chapcha Gewog in Chhukha along the Thimphu – Phuentshogling highway, is a witness to the bizarre phenomena of moving cars giving birth to strays.
But the residents there are not at all intrigued by this, instead, they want the authorities to deal with it. According to them, the area has become not only a dump yard for stray dogs/cats but people also dump bodies of infants in the Wangchhu just below the settlement.
The residents have been facing this issue since the last seven to eight years. And with the increasing number of strays in the area people are concerned about maintaining good health and hygiene practice amidst new diseases that are borne from lack of good health and hygiene practice. They say that stray dogs often feed on the bodies of infants which are on the banks of the river when the water level goes down in the winter.
Today there are over thirty stray dogs in the area.
“When dogs roam around our restaurants, the owners have to give them food. And, the dog population is increasing. When we have more number of dogs, it is not at all hygienic. The place gets dirty and even customers complain. It, therefore, affects our business too,” said Sangay Tenzin, from Damchu in Chhukha.
According to the residents, they even caught a few people dumping dogs in the area.
“People throw dogs, cats and even the bodies of infants near the river here. We caught only a few and most people dump it without our knowledge. There are cases when stray dogs carried up the infant’s dead bodies to our homes. The area has become dump yard for pets and bodies of infants now,” added Leki Dorji, also from Damchu.
The issue of dead bodies of infants throwing into the river in Damchu was discussed in Dzongkhag Tshogdu last year. The House asked the gewog to look into the issue and inform the Dzongkhag accordingly.
Sonam Penjor
