A two-year-old child was attacked on Tuesday by a pack of stray dogs and sustained heavy injuries. He was transported to Akre’s emergency hospital but succumbed to his injuries despite receiving medical attention.
“After the tragic incident in Bardarash where a child lost their life, we began preparations to collect stray dogs. We have coordinated with Bardarash municipality and the district governor's office, and they are supporting us in every way,” Azad Mohammed, the campaign supervisor, told Rudaw.
District mayor Sirwan Hassan said that relevant authorities concluded that the stray dogs must be rounded up after holding a “comprehensive meeting.”
“The dogs are being collected, and after their number reaches 100 to 150 dogs, they will be transported by truck to the stray dog shelter in Erbil,” Hassan told Rudaw.
A stray dog shelter was built in Erbil in 2023 at a cost of over 480 million dinars (around $320,000). It is located on the Erbil-Gwer road.
The high number of stray dogs in Kurdistan Region cities remains a long-standing concern, with population control efforts often facing criticism from animal rights organizations. Dog shelters in Erbil and Zakho have been reported to suffer from overcrowding and a lack of food, leading to poor conditions and many of the animals dying.
Violence against stray dogs is rife in the Kurdistan Region, with the animals often considered a menace and public health risk. They are commonly shooed away, beaten, hit with sticks, and killed by cars and gunshots.
