Indian Express 26.05.2010
MC to kick off dog sterilisation campaign from today
Anupam Bhagria Tags : corporation Posted: Wed May 26 2010, 04:02 hrs
Ludhiana: The Municipal Corporation’s much-awaited dog sterilisation is going to kick off from Wednesday. MC Deputy Mayor Parveen Kumar Bansal said, “Perhaps, this is the biggest sterilisation campaign in northern India, under which 25,000 stray dogs will be sterilised by Doggie Lane, a private company hired by the MC. The entire work, from catching a stray dog to rehabilitating it after sterilisation, will be the company’s responsibility.The Rs 50-crore project will be completed in two years. Bansal said, “I, along with Mayor mayor is Hakam Chand Gyaspura, will inaugurate the campaign near CFC school on Wednesday. Around noon, the company will demonstrate how to catch stray dogs and carry them to Alamgir village in Ludhiana, where the company has set up a veterinary hospital for the project. The dogs will be released at the same place from where they were caught.”A veterinary doctor, however, said, “The project is no doubt very good but the timing is wrong, as it is very hot these days and chances of bacterial infection will rise. Many other questions regarding surgery remain unanswered, like what method the company will use to ensure that a bitch is not pregnant, as it take 20 days to confirm pregnancy through scanning. If anyone wants to confirm it after a week, a kit of Relaxin harmones is used. Will the company use this kit? There will be chances that many puppies might die before birth while operating.”
As a reply to these queries, Bansal said, “We will not be cruel to any dog and will strictly follow all norms for sterilisation. On an average, nearly 700 to 800 dogs will be sterilised in a month.” The project has been lying pending since last year, when the MC had hired an Allahabad-based company for the pupose but later cancelled its tender. Afterwards, it hired the Amritsar-based Doggie Lane. The dogs will also be given anti-rabies vaccines.
