A report of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) states that in the past 10 years, it has approved 20 schemes, worth Rs 11 crore, to control the proliferating population of stray dogs. The projects and crores of rupees notwithstanding, BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah told Express it would take the Palike “five or more years to effectively control the dog population.”

Reproducing like bunnies

Siddaiah said to control the population of stray dogs, the Palike had, a decade ago, started sterilising strays. However, he said, the idea did not work because of the high birth rate of dogs.

Dog Census in 2007 had identified 1,83,000 strays and 1,43,000 pet dogs in the city. Of them, 69,287 — around equal number of males and females — were not sterilised. Since 2007, these dogs have bred six times, considering that dogs breed twice a year.  They give birth to six-eight puppies at a time.

It means that more than two lakh dogs have been born in the past three years in the city. A puppy reaches maturity within an year and is then able to reproduce.

‘We’re right on it’

The BBMP budget has earmarked Rs 5 crore in its budget for 2010-2011 for various schemes to tackle the problem. Dr Parvez Ahmed Peeran of the BBMP’s Animal Welfare Department said surgeries could be conducted on around 80,000-90,000 dogs if the related proposals were approved.