ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An initiative in Erbil province to promote the collection and relocation of stray dogs to shelters has been futile as nobody has signed a contract offered by authorities that pays people per captured dog, a local official said on Monday.
Authorities in Erbil launched a campaign last month to pay citizens 3,000 Iraqi dinars (about $2) per stray dog collected in an effort to counter the city’s stray population.
“This decision was an opportunity for employment for citizens and to speed up the process of collecting dogs, but no one has made a contract with us,” Zhyar Jalal, head of Erbil’s services and environmental protection directorate, told Rudaw.
However, Jalal said that the dog collection process is “going very well” with 17,000 strays captured, adding that the directorate’s teams collect about 50 dogs daily, and 7,500 have been sterilized.
An estimated 31,000 stray dogs exist in Erbil, half of which are kept in shelters while the other half remain outside, according to statistics provided by Jalal.
After authorities announced the contract offer, many people and environmental advocates expressed concern over the potential for abuse during the campaign.
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 a public health risk. They are commonly shooed away, beaten, hit with sticks, and killed by cars and gunshots.
Solin Hamadamin contributed to this report.
