Stray Dogs and Broken Promises: Lahore's Animal Welfare Crisis Spills Into the Open

For many Lahore residents, the question of how the city treats its stray dog population sits at the crossroads of public safety, civic responsibility, and compassion — and a disturbing video circulating this week has brought long-standing tensions boiling back to the surface. The footage has put the city's municipal body and the Punjab government on the defensive, while animal welfare advocates argue that official commitments are being quietly broken.

🐕 Viral Video Ignites Outcry Over Dog Culling Near Ring Road

A new video purportedly showing the carcasses of stray dogs being transported on vehicles near Harbanspura Ring Road has sparked fresh allegations against the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore. The footage reportedly shows vehicles associated with the Punjab Chief Minister's Suthra Punjab cleanliness programme being used to carry the dead animals. A citizen heard in the video challenges an official about a court-ordered ban on killing stray dogs, and the official allegedly responds that there is no such ban and that the killing is being carried out by the government. The Lahore High Court had previously directed the Punjab government to implement the Punjab Animal Birth Control TNVR Policy of 2021, under which stray dogs are to be trapped, neutered, vaccinated, and released rather than killed, and the court had warned that violations could lead to contempt proceedings. Animal welfare organisations have repeatedly alleged that culling continues despite these directions and the government's own stated policy. [5]

Sources: [5] The Express Tribune