The Hindu             03.02.2014 

Civic body back to ABC to curb stray dog menace

Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme will be reintroduced in the city to control the stray dog population.

The Kochi Corporation is planning to introduce the programme in the city with the support of non-governmental organisations.

An
NGO had recently made a presentation on managing the dog population
through sterilisation programme. The local body has in principle agreed
to the proposal. A plan for implementation would be drawn up shortly,
said T.K. Ashraf, chairman of the Health Standing Committee of the
corporation.

The corporation is being flooded with
complaints of stray dog attacks. On an average, the civic body receives
100 complaints a day from the public. Though the local bodies had
earlier resorted to killing of dogs through lethal injections, the
practice was called off following judicial orders. Animal lovers too had
objected to the killing of dogs.

The animal rights
campaigners have been stressing that removing street dogs from their
locality will lead to a rise in the population of harmful pests
including rodents. An increase in the number of rodents and a reduction
in the number of dogs would lead to the spread of diseases. The vacuum
created by the killing of resident populations will be filled by canines
from neighbouring areas. Hence, it was best to control the dog
population than attempting to kill them en masse, said Mr. Ashraf.

The
service of veterinary doctors affiliated to the NGO, pet hospitals in
the city and that of the local body will be used for the ABC campaign.
After sterilising and vaccinating the dogs against rabies, the animals
will be tagged in their ears. They will also be collared for easy
identification. Dog catchers would be trained to net the animals using
butterfly nets in place of the present noose which could harm the dogs,
he said.

The NGO has offered to identify land for an
observation home where the animals could be kept after the surgery. The
local body needs to provide the necessary infrastructure for the
kennels. The district authorities had to drop the ABC programme earlier
following public resistance. Kennels had to be removed following
objections from some residents.

A sensitisation
programme will be carried out in the city for the successful conduct of
the ABC programme. The dogs caught from the streets will have to be
released back to their locality after sterilisation and vaccination. The
public will be sensitised about the release programme as there was
resistance against the release of the dogs after the vaccination and
sterilisation. The proposals would be placed before the corporation
council for approval, he said.