August 10, 2015

you'll see pictures of the tropical

Of course, you'll see pictures of the tropical evergreen forests and spectacular sandy beaches for which it is famous. But what may catch you off-guard are hundreds of photographs of dead dogs, most with an accompanying hashtag - #BoycottKerala - which has appeared thousands of times on Twitter in recent weeks.

Why? Well, according to local reports around 200,000 stray dogs roam freely in Kerala. "There is a lot of fear coupled with panic," Sneha Koshy, a journalist with NDTV, tells BBC Trending, though she is unsure how much of it is justified. "Almost everybody is saying you know we can't go here for a walk, we can't go there for a meal. We can't go out in the night without a car." The news is awash with stories with reports of people being bitten by the dogs, she says.

In response to the reports, the Keralan government outlined plans to cull the dogs. And that was when the online reaction from dog-lovers and organised animal rights groups began.

Many are using social media to put pressure on the authorities in Kerala not to undertake a mass culling. Much of the activism comes from Delhi - 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometres) distant from Kerala.

A campaign with it's own hashtag, "Boycott Kerala" aims to hit the tourism-dependant state where it hurts most. The tag is being used to target tourist information accounts, such as the Kerala Tourist Board. "Come visit Kerala and see how man's best friend is treated," reads one typical post, accompanied with an image of slaughtered dogs. "Boycott Kerala tourism now that the government is brutally killing street dogs," says another. An online petition calling for the dogs to be saved has received more than 50,000 signatures.

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