Dawn Images

Zhalay Sarhadi wants to know why people believe they are entitled to do whatever they see fit to nature, especially when it comes to animals and their lives.

The actor posted a video message on Tuesday decrying recent reports of dog culling in Lahore. She asked why court orders against the practice were being disregarded and what gave authorities the right to kill innocent animals.

The actor started by acknowledging the problem of stray dogs biting people was present, but asserted this was because authorities had failed to apply the trap, neuter, vaccinate, release (TNVR) method, which she said was the humane way to control stray animal populations.

Lamenting that they had instead resorted to shooting dogs and poisoning them, Sarhadi asked why humans felt it was okay to exploit and abuse nature. “Why do they think they have a right to use living things? Donkeys are used for work, dogs are killed at will, horses have been used for work, elephants are used for pleasure. Zoos have been built where animals are not cared for properly; they are simply taken out of their habitats and imprisoned.”

Humans are the “cruelest” of all animals, the actor said. She contended that the increase in aggression among stray animals was also a result of human activities. “They’ve been abused and pelted with stones all their lives, they are just defending themselves.”

Sarhadi said she had been to areas in Pakistan where treating animals with kindness was part of the local culture and as a result humans and animals co-existed peacefully.

The actor said she couldn’t understand why TNVR protocols were not implemented, musing that perhaps it was cheaper to shoot dogs so they tried to save a penny or two.

She insisted people were cruel to dogs simply because it was within their power. “When a child is murdered by a man, a preacher, a teacher, a father or an uncle — which happens often, more so [than dogs mauling kids] — nobody goes to kill all fathers, uncles and teachers. But we will kill all the dogs. Why? Because we can!”

Sarhadi said she applauds each and every volunteer, shelter and activist fighting for the animals who couldn’t fight for themselves. She said they would have to continue their fight — as would she — if attitudes like this continued.

Reports and eye-witness accounts from Lahore say a mass culling campaign is underway, led by the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL), despite orders by the Lahore High Court to implement the Punjab Animal Birth Control Policy, 2021. The policy calls for vaccination and humane population control.

The MCL denies these reports, with Chief Metropolitan Officer Shahid Kathia telling Dawn his teams were “capturing hundreds of dogs” on a daily basis, vaccinating them and releasing them outside the city. He insisted his men were not killing any dogs.

The claims of getting dogs vaccinated were challenged by the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, which said no animals had been brought there for vaccination. This all comes as videos of dog carcasses being left on city streets spread on social media.