The Times of India          17.02.2014

Civic body awaits nod for advanced slaughterhouse

KOZHIKODE: The Kozhikode Corporation authorities are expecting positive response from the investors in the forthcoming investors meet to be held in Kochi for its advanced slaughterhouse at Kothi.

The advanced slaughter house is one of the proposals which will be presented in the 'Partner Kerala' investors meet in Kochi on February 24 and 25.

The advanced slaughterhouse is planned on Public-Private-Partnership model.

The civic body had already acquired 94 cents for the project and had set-aside a sum of Rs 20 lakh to construct a wall around the acquired land.

The civic body does not have any monitoring system in place to check the quality of meat being sold at the meat shops.

The civic body decided to include the proposal in the investors meet as the project needs more than Rs 2 crore funding. The corporation is planning to complete the works at the earliest to ensure that the shops here sell only hygienic meat.

Health standing committee chairperson Janamma Kunjunni said that the civic body would be able to properly monitor the selling of meat in the shops once the slaughter house becomes a reality.

"The meat waste would be converted into value-added products like manure and pet foods,'' said the chairperson.

The Hindu              14.02.2014

South Delhi to get 32 new vans to impound stray dogs

Staff Reporter

4,600 cases of dog bites registered at SDMC hospitals in 2013

Tired of waiting for years to get land for setting up a hospital dedicated to dogs, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Wednesday announced that 32 new vans would be procured to impound, immunise and sterilise stray dogs.

“There were approximately 4,600 cases of dog bites registered at SDMC hospitals in 2013,” SDMC spokesperson Mukesh Yadav said.

The Leader of the House in the SDMC, Subhash Arya, said: “We are not getting land from the the Delhi Development Authority to establish a dog hospital, so we are engaging vans to solve the problem of stray dogs.”

“We have been waiting to get land for three to four years, so now we’ve come up with an alternative solution,” explained Mr. Yadav.

The project is likely to get a Rs.5-crore allocation in the civic body’s budget, which will be announced on Friday, said Mr. Yadav.

Through the allocation in the 2014-2015 budget, the civic body aims to sterilise 1,30,000 dogs.

Mr. Arya said 24 vans will be put into service to impound stray dogs and eight more will be equipped with facilities for immunising and sterilising them.

After immunisation and sterilisation, the dogs will be released back to the spot from where they were picked up, added Mr. Arya.

Meanwhile, PETA India CEO Poorva Joshipura said: “There are millions of stray dogs struggling to survive on Indian streets. Many of these animals go hungry, are hit by cars, illegally poisoned or abused by cruel people in other ways.”

Ms. Joshipura explained that sterilised dogs live healthier lives and are less likely to bite.

“PETA supports effective and humane sterilisation efforts, in which the dogs are handled with kindness and after sterilisation returned to where they were found,” added Ms. Joshipura.