The problem of stray dogs in Buddhist countries

If anyone travels to Sri Lanka , or Myanmar , or many of the other Buddhist-majority countries in Asia , they will see a common sight : great marauding packs of stray dogs which eek out an existence in the suburbs during daylight , and dominate the streets after night . One is literally in danger walking the streets after dark , as these packs can reach 20-30 dogs , as happened to me more than once coming back from a night out .

People feed these dogs leftovers in the name of non-harm , great bowls of rice in the street . They are not sterilised for reasons mostly financial but at least partly ethical . Many suffer from some skin disease or unhealed wound . It is hard to imagine that they live good lives , and we do not have the right to take that life away from them .

But it is a difficult moral position . By feeding them , we are encouraging rampant growth to these packs , to their own detriment and that of many other beings in the already unbalanced ecosystem . To let them starve is seen is evil . Yet feeding them is not a purely noble deed , as the consequences can be harmful to all involved . To me this issue is a microcosm of other issues that non-intervention charity enters into : perpetuating the existence of a being that does not harmonise with its own kind nor others . Some people commit their lives to sterilising dogs in poor areas , in order to try solve this issue .

What do you think ?