Pimpri-Chinchwad to outsource work to catch dogs

The fact that employees carry out the task of catching dogs only during their duty hours hampers the work, said PCMC veterinary chief Dr Satish Gore . “That’s till 5.30 pm. The task is becomng impossible to carry out during specific hours. The mongrels keep moving from one place to another and when the dog squad is around, they disappear only to return later.”

He said the complaints have in fact increased in recent times. “We get from five to 15 complaints every day requesting that a stray dog be caught in a particular area. We cannot cater to each and every complaint. Catching one stray sometime takes hardly any time, but on occasions it could take hours,” he said. Along with the complaints of nuisance causing stray cause, the dog bite cases have seen no dip. Every around 7,000 dog bites cases are registered from across the town. In 2009/2010, 7807 dog bite cases were registered and so far this year, 4676 cases have been registered. “These cases mostly are from congested areas of Pimpri, Chinchwad, Bhosari, Dapodi, Phugewadi and Sangvi,” officials said.

Welcoming the move to outsource the stray dog catching system, civic activists however feel the veterinary department should ensure that each and every complaint is attended to as the stray menace has increased manifold in the industrial town. “In every locality of Pimpri-Chinchwad, you will find dozens of strays roaming freely. The most under threat are the children returning schools. In several areas, children have been reportedly attacked. If we check the figures of those attacked, you will find mostly children have been the targed,” said civic activist Kannan Nambiar.