The Homeless Animals Protection Society works on containing the hazards that might arise as a result of the uncontrolled population of dogs without owners.

The center treats homeless dogs and sometimes sterilizes them in order to check this population.

The recent decision by the Addis Ababa City administration to kill dogs by poisoning them seemed to have caught people's attention. And The Reporter's Bruck Shewareged interviewed the association's president, Ephrem Legesse, and Hanna Kifle, its project coordinator. Excerpts:

Reporter: What were the impacts that homeless animals, mainly dogs, were having on Addis Ababa? What primary factors led you to establish this society?

Ephrem: Our society was established on October 29, 2001. And it was not primarily due to problems prevalent in Addis that we were motivated to found this society. You see, we used to work at Bale National Park. The wildlife populations there were affected by homeless dogs. There was also the danger of cross breeding.

There were some projects directed at keeping the dogs in the vicinity healthy so that they don't transmit diseases to the wildlife and the project also used to undertake the task of sterilizing these dogs so that they won't crossbreed with the endemic Red Fox.

But the project focused only on dogs with owners. There were homeless dogs in the area. Around the more than 2000 sq. km. wide park, there were twelve to thirteen villages, and the dogs in these villages need to travel only about 30 km to have an encounter with the endangered Red Fox numbering less than 500.

So we began to study the efficiency of the project which had already been under way for nearly fifteen to sixteen years. The result of that study put the efficiency of the project in question. And the findings of that study were published in a foreign magazine. Primarily, the study established that the problem was caused by homeless dogs.

So you essentially adopted that finding for your present activity?

Ephrem: Yes, we did that. Homeless dogs have no-one to control them. The owner of a dog could kill the dog if it becomes sick. But no one will take care of a homeless dog. A dog infected with rabies could cover a distance of up to 70 km. But as I said earlier, the villages around the Bale National Park are only 20-30 km away from the habitat of the Red Fox. We recommended that the project should incorporate the homeless dogs. Our recommendation was rejected. So we brought the project to Addis Ababa.

What is your estimate of the number of homeless dogs in Addis Ababa?

Ephrem: We don't have exact numbers. There are campaigns of eradicating dogs from time to time. But we tried to take samples. For instance, we conducted a survey as to their numbers in the Bole sub-city. Our estimate is that there are about 250,000 homeless dogs, and another 500,000 with no strict control or monitoring from their owners. So, all in all, their numbers could reach as high as 750,000.

Let's come to the project at hand. What services do you render?

Ephrem: One serious problem is the spread of rabies. It harms the society. We have to contain this disease, which is inflicting harm on people and wildlife, especially, in the rural areas. We vaccinate dogs to prevent the spread of rabies. We also sterilize these dogs in order to check their population.

In addition, we do sensitization work. We prepare leaflets, pamphlets containing essential information about what people should do. One of the main factors for the increase in homeless dogs population in Addis is the breeding amongst dogs with owners. Owners of dogs, whenever the female dog gives birth to puppies, usually dump the newly born on the street. This greatly contributes to the population explosion of dogs. So we urge people to bring their dogs for sterilization and vaccination.

Wouldn't people resist that as sterilization could be a moral issue? And how effective is your sensitization work?

Ephrem: We reach the public through the media. At different times, we have tried to propagate our message through various media outlets such as television and different newspapers. That way we could reach many people. We could also use our Nissan pick-up truck which we use to move dogs from place to place. We can post important messages on it; and people can see that whenever we drive the car around.

Haven't you come across people who might take your work as a luxury?

Ephrem: To be honest, yes we have encountered people with such notions. It is true that we have many social problems. And many consider our work i.e, caring for homeless animals, as a luxury. We even sometimes come across people who verbally abuse us.

But since we have an objective to meet, we just don't go back. We calm ourselves, then try to calm them and explain the problem, and convince them of the importance of our work. We try to explain to the people that our work may save the lives of children who could suffer from rabies. Many people change their minds, and even take our address for further contact. We advice people on where to vaccinate their dogs, too, since many do not know even the location of veterinary clinics.

Have you made a formal study as to the effectiveness of your campaign? To what extent have you changed people's attitude?

Ephrem: It is only six years since this society was established. We have spent a lot of time at the Bale National Park issue. It is only for two years since we started to effectively work here. And our current project on dogs is only one-year old. So there was not enough time to conduct an extensive study.

On top of that, we have faced funding problems. Some donor organizations refuse to assist as they have found out that dogs have been poisoned to death. So, we didn't have favourable situation to make an evaluation.

Where do you get support from now?

Ephrem: First, there are contributions by the society's members. There are currently 94 members. There are expatriates and Ethiopians who greatly assist us.

Apart from these, there are international organizations that assist us such as World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) and Humane Society International (HSI). There are also Animal People USA and Amsale Gessese Memorial Foundation run by an Ethiopian American, Dr. Anteneh Roba. Marching Trust UK and Winsome Constance Kindness Trust from Australia, too, greatly assist us.

But the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA-UK) are our major source of fund.

There was recently a decision by city administration to remove, in fact, kill dogs in order to clean Addis for the millennium celebration, which one local newspaper labeled as "dogicide". Have you approached the administration people to put a stop to the campaign?

Ephrem: We went to the office of the city mayor to request a halt to the killings. We submitted a letter to this effect. We also expressed our concern to our Deputy Prime Minister through an official letter. It is disturbing that such a campaign should be launched.

Haven't you employed the service of lobbyists or lawyers to push for halting such campaigns?

Ephrem: We have legal advisors. But you don't want to follow the confrontational approach here. Had the poisoning campaign been in the US, people would demonstrate on streets. But I don't think that is effective here.

We lost our job due to the controversy raised by the Bole National Park issue. Of course, we were reinstated later. You can raise controversy and outcry here, too. But that may not help. We want to be practical. We want to approach government quietly and get things done.

Apart from moral issue, some oppose poisoning dogs on the ground of health and environmental issues. From your viewpoint, what impacts will the poisoning have?

Ephrem: Killing dogs by poisoning them has been in practice for many years. The poison is very dangerous. It is also very expensive. You need foreign currency to import the poison. You need money to hire experts to administer the poison. You have to hire people to dispose of the bodies of dead dogs safely. You have to have a truck to transport the dead dogs. You need to pay for petrol. In short, it is a very expensive undertaking.

But compared to the expense, the result that you get is not that much. You may kill some dogs today. But the area will be repopulated.

How about the environmental hazard?

Hanna: You could give a dog a chunk of poisoned meat but there is no guarantee that he will eat it. Some other animal may get to it first and eat it and die. While we were working in Bole National Park, we lost many wild animals as they eat the poisoned meat meant for the homeless dogs.

Ephrem: Sometimes, a crow might eat the meat, and other scavengers could eat the dead crow and get poisoned. It could start a chain reaction of poisoning. As the amount of prison gets smaller and smaller on secondary and tertiary levels, these animals don't die quickly. They may travel a lot of distance before they die, and take the poison with them to new territories.

Hanna: In short, it has a very serious consequence but with minimum results. Sometimes poisoning campaigns take place two to three times a year. But the situation hasn't fundamentally changed. Unless you address the root cause, there is no sense in doing a fireman's work now and then.

Ephrem: Instead of requesting a budget every year for purchasing the poison, why don't you change your approach?

But how effective can the sterilization be?

Ephrem: For instance, in our immediate vicinity, there are no new-born puppies. All the homeless dogs in our area have been sterilized. We were able to control the problem in the area. But there are other measures that must be taken, too. Dog owners should come and have their dogs sterilized instead of later throwing out new-born puppies on the street. The municipality must also remove garbages quickly because homeless dogs can collect ample food from garbages. This encourages the population explosion.

The other problem with poisoning is that you can get to a dog only once. You may kill eight dogs out of ten in a small area. But the other two will replicate exponentially as you give them more territory, and a bigger chance of getting food than before.

Hanna: Those who survived one-time poisoning campaign will be cautious and they normally identify the people who administer the poison. They will hide when these people come.

Ephrem: For instance, a dog in the vicinity of the Bale National Park was shot in the leg once. Then it was difficult to get her next time. Even when the park rangers came on horse, because the dog hides whenever she sees their cars, the dog still identified the ranger and hides. Later, she became group leader of other dogs and become really, really wild and started to attack the wildlife population there. All these dogs start to move by night only.

How big is your accommodation capacity? And how many dogs do you treat daily?

Ephrem: We have ten rooms for resting the dogs. Each dog stays for five days. We intend to increase the capacity.

We can conduct surgery for twenty dogs. We have volunteers. For instance, we have three students from the Debrezeit voluntary school who assist our surgeon. There is a voluntary dog catcher, too.

Hanna: I would like to add that we just begin to address the problem. Everyone should give due attention to this problem. And the work we started must be expanded a great deal. If all people are involved, we believe, the problem can be handled in a relatively short period of time.

What are your plans to expand?

Ephrem: With the help of the founder of the Amsale Gessesse Foundation, we plan to build a veterinary center. The design of the center has been finalized. It has a clinic. It is also a shelter. And it will also have a training center which can accommodate trainees not only from Ethiopia but also from Africa.

Is it better to go for one big center? Or to go for smaller veterinarian centers and increase your outreach?

Ephrem: We proposed an idea to the government to this effect. There are governmental veterinarian centers. The plan is to strengthen these centers so that the people will get low cost veterinarian service.