KARACHI: More than a dozen decrepit dogs splash into the Arabian Sea as the small wooden boat approaches. They know the fishermen´s mission: bringing food and water for the canine population of one of Karachi´s "dog islands".

The boat, powered by an old jeep engine, stops when the water is still waist-high, two fishermen jumping from it to wade ashore the low, barren, waste-covered beach, whose only inhabitants are barking their welcome. The island, known as Dingy or Buddo, is one of dozens populated by dogs that line the shore south of the sprawling port megacity.

Conservative figures estimate the feral dog population of Karachi could number up to 35,000. With animal rights at their nadir and religious sentiment in the Muslim country partly to blame for a prejudice against dogs, the figures spark a brutal culling each year that sees bodies pile up in the streets, rotting in the sweltering heat as they wait to be bulldozed away.

The islands, despite their lack of food and fresh water, have become a sanctuary, an alternative where estimates suggest hundreds of dogs avoid the cull. But their survival depends almost entirely on the supplies brought to them by Karachi´s fishermen as they trawl the coast. "We see them standing at the shore of the island in hope of food from us. So we feel their silent call," says Abdul Aziz, a 30-year-old fisherman, after feeding the dogs on Dingy Island some pancakes and water left over from their own supplies.