The Hindu 26.07.2010
Corporation to step up ABC programme
T, Nandakumar
| Panic-stricken residents demand measures to curb stray dog menace in the city |
Doctors to be given training in laparoscopy
Sterilization facilities non-existent in local bodies
Thiruvananthapuram: The City Corporation is preparing to step up the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme for sterilization of stray dogs, even as panic-stricken residents are demanding immediate action to curb the increasing dog menace in the city and suburbs.
Civic officials are also concerned over the prospect of handling an explosion in the number of animals to follow the merger of five suburban panchayats with the city.
The Federation of Residents Associations, Thiruvananthapuram, (FRAT) has called for urgent steps to control the stray dog menace. A release quoting FRAT general secretary G. Raveendran Nair expressed concern over the increase in the number of rabid dogs and dog bite cases. It said the stray dog menace posed a grave risk for the swelling crowds on city roads during the Onam festival season. Two-wheeler riders are vulnerable to accidents caused by the roaming animals, especially at night.
Sources in the Animal Husbandry Department said the Corporation would have a tough time in dealing with the stray dog population in the new wards to be annexed from the Kazhakuttam, Kudappanakunnu, Vattiyoorkavu, Sreekaryam and Vizhinjam panchayats that are to be merged with the city soon. The menace is especially high in the Kazhakuttam and Kudappanakunnu panchayats.
Chairman of the standing committee on health G.R. Anil said the local bodies were caught between public demand to slaughter stray dogs and the legal ban on killing them. “Under the ABC guidelines, sterilized dogs are to be released in the areas from where they were captured. But in many localities, citizens vehemently oppose the release of sterilized dogs. Municipal employees and dog handlers often have to face the wrath of the public,” he said.
Mr. Anil said a team of five veterinary doctors would be imparted training in laparoscopic techniques to save the time spent on surgery. “We are planning to send them to the Blue Cross Hospital in Chennai for training,” he said. The Corporation’s veterinary hospital at Pettah is equipped with laparoscopic equipment purchased at a cost of Rs.20 lakh.
The district veterinary hospital at the PMG junction and the two hospitals under the Corporation at Pettah and Thiruvallam together sterilise 10 to 12 dogs a day. “The number will go up significantly once the doctors are equipped for keyhole surgery which is minimally invasive and requires less time for recuperation of the animal,” Mr.Anil said. The Corporation has a team of nine handlers and specially-equipped vehicles to capture stray dogs from the streets.
The current budget of the Corporation had earmarked funds to equip two more veterinary hospitals in the Nemom and Attipra areas with facilities for sterilization of animals. The local body also has plans to set up an incinerator to cremate rabid dogs that are euthanized.
Government officials admit that facilities for sterilizing stray dogs are virtually non-existent in local bodies in the State, except for the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
Last September, Ombudsman for Local Self-Government Institutions M.R. Hariharan Nair had issued directions to the government to equip all local bodies with the means to curb the stray dog menace.
The order called for setting up dog pounds, purchase of dog vans and surgical equipment and establishment of incinerators. It also stressed the need for a separate wing of veterinary doctors for the ABC programme and a monitoring committee to review its progress.
The absence of a database on the number of stray dogs is a major factor that hinders planning for the ABC programme.
The recent court ban on killing stray dogs has forced the government to focus attention on equipping local bodies with infrastructure and manpower for the ABC programme.
