The massacre of temple dogs in southern Thailand in the wake of the rabies fear frenzy is not only cruel and sad, it also reflects state authorities' mindset that violence is the way to eliminate perceived enemies.
Despite insistence from state authorities that they would not resort to "set zero" the population of stray dogs -- meaning killing them all -- to stop the outbreak of rabies this year, what is happening on the ground is heart-rending -- and maddening.
Thanks to a viral video clip on social media, the public got to see a group of livestock officials collecting dead dogs from a mass poisoning at Wat Khao Pridi in Thung Song district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province. The video also shows an official begging for "understanding" amid angry curses and cries from the woman who took the video. His group later frantically fled the scene.
Those guys were only following orders from their superiors. That's understandable. What is unacceptable is the cruelty of killing all temple dogs without an attempt to screen and quarantine them. This mass poisoning of dogs also took place at a temple, supposedly a centre of Buddhist compassion. How did it happen? Who at the temple sent for the livestock officials and endorsed the massacre?
All eyes are now on the monks, and that's not good.
The rounding up of stray dogs, mass poisoning and killings have been taking place since early this year. In February, the public was incensed when more than 200 dogs and cats in Chiang Rai were killed en masse. Officials explained it away as a necessary attempt to control rabies when the contagion rate, they claimed, has more than doubled this year.
Concern turned into panic when the Livestock Department declared over 30 provinces as rabies threat areas, followed by all-out anti-rabies vaccination campaigns.
Sanitsuda Ekachai is former editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.
With about one million stray dogs in the country, the "set zero" idea emerged on social media, setting off a storm of debate on how best to control the population of stray dogs and cats.
Amid heated debate, the rounding up of strays -- including those already vaccinated by dog lover groups -- goes on in various parts of the country. There were many red faces when it was found the rabies outbreak this year was caused by "substandard" vaccines.
Corruption was definitely involved in the fake vaccines scandal. Due to fake vaccines, the vaccination routines were disrupted. This year, as a result, lives have been lost and healthy animals have been killed en masse. Yet there are no attempts to find the culprits nor to fix the loopholes.
Then, without explanation, the Livestock Department made an abrupt U-turn.
Last week, on March 13, the public was puzzled when the Livestock Department suddenly announced that the current rabies situation is actually no worse than last year; so far, six people have died from rabies compared to 11 last year and 13 the year before. In short, there is no rabies outbreak.
But the "set zero" momentum has already taken a life of its own. Despite the about-face by their top bosses, livestock officials on the ground continue the rounding up of strays, although many of them have already been vaccinated.
On social media, the "set zero" proponents still insist wiping out the strays is the quickest and cheapest way to eliminate rabies. It doesn't matter to them if it's true or not. The belief is firm and fixed: If it's your enemy, eliminate it. Use violence if you must.
But the fact is half of infected dogs are household pets. One of the main reasons for rabies is poor coverage of anti-rabies vaccination campaigns due to state efficiency and a lack of public awareness. The lack of inexpensive anti-rabies vaccines for humans after they are infected also plays a big part in the state's failure to prevent casualties from rabies.
Insisting that eliminating rabies through mass killings of strays is not only an easy way out through violence, it also leaves the ineffective -- and often corrupt -- centralised bureaucracies off the hook.
Raw violence cannot root out a complex problem. Getting rid of strays is not equal to getting rid of rabies. When people continue to dump unwanted dogs with impunity, when comprehensive neutering and anti-rabies jabs are lacking, and when private efforts to take care of abandoned dogs are left to struggle alone without state support, the strays will stay. As will the public health risk.
A complex problem demands a complex solution. It demands thinking through different aspects of the challenge and involving different stakeholders instead of assuming the inefficient, top-down authorities have a solution.
Yet, violence is most always an easy option when fear reigns, throwing reason out the window.
That's why when strays are thought to be the main cause of the rabies outbreak, people shout: "Kill them all."
Rooted in raw fear, this belief that violence is the ultimate answer to eliminate an enemy is consistent with many state policies. Examples abound:
When the forest peoples are believed to be the cause of deforestation, evict them or send them to jail.
When migrant workers are viewed as national security threats, oppress them. Better still, make exploitation legal with inhumane laws.
When ethnic Malay Muslims in the deep South are viewed as outsiders, treat them as second-class citizens. If they raise hell and call for justice, call them terrorists to justify state violence to silence them.
When people take to the streets to protest state oppression or policies that destroy their livelihoods, arrest them for disrupting orderliness.
When people meet to push for electoral democracy, discredit them for being pro-Thaksin and arrest them for breaking the anti-assembly law.
When people question the status quo, call them anti-establishment, intimidate them, arrest them, silence them.
It doesn't matter that forest people have been living in forests for generations, that the migrants are equal human beings, that the Malay Muslims have long been oppressed, that community rights over local resources and freedom of expression -- and tolerance for differences -- are necessary for peace and hope for the future.
The current debates on strays in social media is a positive phenomena. They help explore different aspects of the problems and different solutions. They also foster the ability to listen to different opinions from one another.
What must end is state violence through the mass killing of strays. This mentality -- the obsession with violent solutions -- perpetuates state oppression at every level in society. Because if we are seen as an enemy of the state, we too will be dealt with violence like stray dogs.