The Times of India             10.12.2013

Corporation launches special vehicles to nab stray dogs, sterilise them

TRICHY: The Trichy Corporation's move to procure two high-end vehicles for controlling dog menace in the city has brought cheer to the residents.

The vehicles were procured at an estimated cost of Rs 15 lakh. They are equipped with separate cells for dogs that are covered with nets and each vehicle can accommodate at least six dogs. The government hospital here receives at least 20 incidents of dog bite everyday which are mainly from the city. Most of the victims are children, who get bitten on roads by stray dogs.

Corporation officials said they are on a mission to catch at least 20 animals per day and sterilise them. However, the corporation's proposal for constructing a full-fledged sterilisation centre in Kottapattu for animals is yet to begin. The Rs 20 lakh project has been a long-pending issue and the resolution was passed only during a recent councillors' meet. The councillors had charged out that dogs caught from one ward are being let out in other wards without sterilising them.

However, the corporation officials claimed that at least 306 dogs, which were picked up from the wards were sterilised during the year. An engineer of the city corporation, R Chandran said decks for the proposed sterilisation centre have been cleared and the work would commence soon. One of the two vehicles has already arrived and doctors will soon start the sterilisation drive once the centre is constructed in a few months' time, he added.

It can be noted that a few years ago, the city corporation along with an NGO had come up with a similar system at Lorry Shed along Madurai Road, which became defunct due to infrastructural problems.

The Hindu                09.12.2013

“End stray cattle menace”

As stray cattle poses hardships to road-users, there are lots of expectations from the Corporation authorities to regulate them and prevent accidents.

Even as most of the roads here, particularly the interior ones, are dangerous to road-users because of potholes and encroachments, stray cattle have made the roads unsafe for all users.

Corporation officials received appeals from the locals to control the cattle.

Subsequently, Commissioner T. Mohan warned through a statement that the stray cattle would be impounded and the attached animals could be freed only after the owners paid the fine.

However, no visible action has been taken so far against the animals, particularly the bovine species that freely move around on almost all busy roads in Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai.

Even after two bulls were fatally knocked down by a speeding unidentified vehicle in front of INS Kattabomman Receiving Station on the Tirunelveli-Nagercoil Highway recently no action has been taken. The carcasses triggered a few accidents involving bikes as they remained on the road for nearly four hours since early morning.

After drizzle started with the onset of monsoon in October, the cattle, unable to lie on moist ground, have shifted their base to dry and relatively warm roads, especially during the night to take rest. Even during the day, the stray cattle, undeterred by the speeding vehicles, either stand on the middle of the road or take rest on the thoroughfares causing accidents.

Admitting that no action has been taken to impound the stray cattle, a senior Corporation official said that no fund had been allotted for buying fodder to feed the stray cattle after impounding them. “Since the owners may take their own to time to rescue their animals after paying the fine, we should be ready to feed the animals as long as they are under our custody. Once the funds and the personnel to catch the stray cattle are available, our operation against the cattle wandering along the roads will begin,” he said.