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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 11803565" data-attributes="member: 92282">Sri Lanka has lifted a moratorium on killing stray dogs as the  government attempts to cut down on the 2,000 people that are  hospitalised every day after being bitten, a media report said Saturday.Health  Minister Maithripala Sirisena told the Swarnavahini television network  that the government had decided to revert back to destroying strays, a  practice suspended five years ago, because of rabies concerns."Clearly  our new policy has failed...," Sirisena told the privately run network.  "As a government, we have decided to go back to the previous practice."Sri  Lankan law allows the authorities to catch and kill stray animals, but a  presidential order suspended the practice in 2006 following lobbying by  animal rights groups.But the health minister said stray dog  populations had rapidly increased, to three million in recent years, and  had become a major public health issue in an island of 20 million  people.Some 2,000 people are hospitalised daily after being  bitten by stray dogs, the minister said, adding that the authorities  were spending over $13 million annually to deal with the problem.Animal  rights activists said sterilisation efforts had failed because of  corruption and mismanagement by public health officials."We want  the government to reconsider this decision and ensure a humane treatment  of these animals," said Sagarika Rajakarunanayake, of the Satva Mithra  animal rights group.A health ministry official said the  government was going ahead with plans for a sanctuary for stray dogs in  the north of the country, but rights activists said it was not a  practical way to look after stray animals.They argued that the  sterilisation programme should be made more effective along with a  campaign to vaccinate stray dogs against rabies.<img src="http://www.google.com/hostednews/img/afp_logo.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></blockquote>

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