The Hindu 25.07.2012
Animal birth control in city gets a fillip
The Chennai Corporation’s animal birth control centre near Elephant Gate
receives more than 50 complaints a day —Photo: K. Pichumani
The Chennai Corporation is likely to permit yet another
NGO, International Trust of Peace, to take part in the animal birth
control programme (ABC) in added areas of the city.If
the Corporation Council approves a resolution on Wednesday, the
sterilisation of dogs in various localities of the city will get a
boost.
Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, Blue Cross of India and People for Animals are currently
shouldering the responsibility of tackling challenges pertaining to
animal birth control programme in the city.
After the
expansion of the city limits, the number of calls made to the helpline
for stray dog control is on the rise. The number of animal birth control
operations has touched 1,900 every month.
However,
many of the complaints of residents pertaining to stray dogs in the
newly added areas fail to elicit the required response from the Chennai
Corporation.
The civic body has just a few vans to
catch dogs and only some are put to use. In the past three years, the
civic body has caught around 55,000 dogs of which over 51,000 have been
sterilised.
As a chunk of contract labourers fail to
turn up during emergencies, the civic body plans to make use of the
services of new NGOs to tackle such problems. Most of the stray dog
menace complaints are from expanded areas and more than 50 complaints
are received at the Animal Birth Control Centre near Elephant Gate a
day.