Rabies, Rage & Rights: Pakistan’s Struggle Between Public Safety and Animal Welfare

A Changing Relationship with Dogs

In recent years, Pakistan’s relationship with dogs has shifted dramatically. In urban, gated communities, pet ownership has become a marker of lifestyle — Labradors, Huskies, and beagles are now a familiar sight on social media and in affluent neighborhoods.

But beyond these enclaves, Pakistan’s public spaces tell a different story: the growing presence of stray dogs. Some are cared for by shopkeepers or treated as “community guardians,” but many remain unpredictable and, at times, dangerous.

This contrast has sparked a polarising debate — one that pits animal rights activists against residents fearful of attacks. The central question: Can Pakistan protect both people and dogs?

A Family’s Nightmare

For one Karachi family, the issue became devastatingly real. On a quiet Sunday in May, K*’s wife and toddler son stepped into their garage, only to be attacked by an aggressive stray dog.

The animal, described as rabid, had already attacked several people that day. It lunged at her shoulders, abdomen, and legs. With remarkable courage, she shielded her child, suffering serious injuries in the process.

Turned away by several hospitals, K* rushed her to Jinnah Hospital, where she finally received emergency anti-rabies treatment.

The dog was later killed by residents — but the ordeal didn’t end there. Online, the family faced a storm of criticism and abuse from activists who condemned the dog’s killing. Some messages turned threatening. “Your wife and 2.5-year-old child are not more important than that dog,” one person told him.

For K*, the backlash felt cruelly disconnected from reality: “Should we just stand by and watch our loved ones be attacked and risk dying from rabies?”

Rabies in Pakistan: A Preventable but Deadly Crisis

Health experts estimate that over one million dog bite cases occur annually in Pakistan, with many going unreported. Rabies, transmitted through the saliva of infected animals, is 100% preventable but nearly always fatal once symptoms appear.

“If treatment is delayed after a rabid dog bite, the consequences are often fatal,”
— Dr. Wajiha Ahmed, Clinical Research Scientist, NYU

Timely treatment requires:

Washing the wound thoroughly
Starting post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) immediately (a vaccine course, sometimes with rabies immunoglobulin)
But in many parts of Pakistan, PEP is unavailable, unaffordable, or poorly understood.

Experts stress that preventing rabies isn’t just a hospital issue. It requires:

Mass dog vaccination
Stray population management through Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (CNVR)
Public awareness on bite prevention and timely treatment

The Culling Controversy

Historically, many Pakistani cities have turned to mass culling — often through poisoning or shooting — as a quick fix. But international experts call this ineffective and unethical.

Dr. Amir Khalil, Senior Advisor at FOUR PAWS International, explained:

Culling fails due to the “vacuum effect”: when dogs are killed in one area, new dogs migrate in.
Killing is often more costly than neutering and vaccinating.
Despite decades of culling in countries like Egypt, stray populations remain high.

“Killing is never a solution,” Dr Khalil said. “The issue isn’t the existence of dogs, but their uncontrolled numbers.”

Humane Alternatives: What Works Globally

The CNVR model (Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return) has proven successful in reducing both stray dog populations and rabies cases. Countries like Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine have seen long-term progress with this approach.

The method is endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO):
Vaccinating 70% of dogs in an area can eliminate rabies locally.
Collaboration is essential — involving health, agriculture, and veterinary departments together.

Yet in Pakistan, efforts remain fragmented. Animal welfare groups operate in isolation, without a unified national plan.

Ethics and Ground Realities

When a dog shows signs of rabies, experts agree it must be caught and quarantined immediately. Still, moments of crisis — like the attack on K*’s wife — raise difficult questions about balancing compassion with safety.

For families on the ground, the choice feels clear: survival first. But for activists, blanket killings risk sliding into cruelty. The tension between these perspectives highlights Pakistan’s need for strong systems that protect both humans and animals.

What Needs to Change Experts argue that Pakistan must:

Develop a coordinated 3–5 year national plan for dog population control and rabies prevention.
Train skilled teams to humanely catch, vaccinate, and neuter dogs.
Improve municipal waste management, reducing food sources that attract strays.
Launch public awareness campaigns on bite prevention and treatment.

As Dr. Khalil noted: “Animal protection is human protection. If we can protect the dog, we can protect the human.”

Final Thoughts

Pakistan’s rabies crisis sits at the crossroads of public health, ethics, and policy neglect. Rabies is entirely preventable, yet families continue to suffer — caught between the threat of disease and the backlash of an unresolved debate.

The science is clear, and global models exist. What Pakistan lacks is not knowledge, but commitment and coordination.

Until humane, large-scale solutions take root, ordinary people will remain trapped in fear — and the cycle of rage, rabies, and rights will continue.