Stray dogs mauled three children at Handwara last week. This was followed by another attack in South Kashmir. Four months ago a stray dog injured twenty people including women and children at Batmaloo. Earlier An eight-year-old kid at Lasjan slipped into Jehlum. The list is endless. The canines flourish as authorities sleep over the matter. There seems no immediate respite for the people. The canines in Kashmir are lucky. They have the right to life and there are people around to enforce this right. It is better being a dog in Kashmir than a human being! Official data says that there are more than two lakh stray dogs in the city of Srinagar alone. The city, according to experts, needs 5000 dogs for scavenging. What will happen to the rest? The officials privately admit that castrating the dogs, as suggested by Maneka Gandhi, was a cumbersome process and the best option to have an optimal level of canine population is go for the kill. As per official data, SMHS hospital registers around 4000 cases of dog bites every year. Over the past two decades, the animal rights activists have managed to prevent poisoning of stray dogs. A scribe who agitated the matter repeatedly was shown a letter of Maneka Gandhi who had threatened the authorities of dire consequences in case the dogs were poisoned. Even the judgement of the Mumbai high Court allowing poisoning of stray dogs (in case they pose threat to human life) has failed to inspire the authorities. The irony is that the poisonous drugs worth Rs 20 lakh have been bought from outside the JK but it is not administered to the deadly canines for unknown reasons. The authorities owe an explanation to the people. In fact it is responsible for all the killings that have taken place across Kashmir for the past few years. The Municipal Magistrate even directed the authorities to kill the dogs. The authorities have not heeded the order and no contempt proceedings have been initiated against them.