Dec 14, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lankan animal lovers and welfare organizations have raised concern over the rounding up of dogs near a popular promenade in Colombo, saying it might violate the president's 'no kill' policy on strays. Just 15 of these have been won. The challenges in going to court include high costs, having to travel nearly every day from Colombo to all these courts as there are no animal welfare groups in most districts (and) the judicial system’s lack of familiarity with the laws pertaining to animals." Visakha Tillekeratne of the Animal Welfare Trust said the recent removal of dogs from the Galle Face green promenade outside the defence ministry has given rise to doubts whether local authorities had resumed killing of strays.
"The fact that the cruel happenings of five years ago, when dogs were collected and taken to the dog pound for killing seem to be recurring, are extremely disturbing, especially in the light of the President’s 'No Kill' policy," she told a news conference.
Why do we say this? At least 10 dogs were rounded up outside the defence ministry at Galle Face on the pretext that they were a nuisance and were collected and dumped.
Hamza Macan Markar, a resident of Galle Face
