The Hindu                          24.03.2013

Single van to catch 18,500 stray dogs

Shastry V. Mallady 

(The Madurai Corporation has embarked on a drive to catch stray dogs in the city for sterilisation.

While
people are living with fear of dog bite, especially in suburbs, it may
take a much longer time for the dog menace to come to an end as the
sterilisation waiting list is much higher. Reasons: as per the latest
census, there are more than 18,500 street dogs in Madurai which are yet
to undergo Animal Birth Control procedure (sterilisation). But, there is
only one vehicle to catch all these stray dogs in the 100 wards of the
city.

While the officials are keen to do
sterilisation of all stray dogs, the availability of only one birth
control centre at Sellur poses another problem. “There is a huge backlog
and the stray dog population is rising fast in the wake of new places
having been annexed to the Corporation,” a senior corporation official
told
The Hindu
on Saturday.

The drive for stray dog sterilisation is
meant to control its population and also prevent rabies as the dogs
will be vaccinated against rabies. The Animal Birth Control programme is
being implemented on a routine basis and there are trained dog catchers
with the corporation.

But, officials said that the
Corporation had to go slow because of the norms they had to follow and
strict vigil by animal rights groups and the Blue Cross.

Corporation
Commissioner R. Nanthagopal admitted that the actual population of
stray dogs in the city and suburbs could be even more than 18,500 and
they could not be sterilised fast owing to some limitations.

“In
a month, we do sterilisation procedure and rabies vaccination for
around 450 dogs. We will take steps to increase the number of operations
by getting the support of various groups concerned. The Corporation
will also deploy more vehicles to catch street dogs and try to set up
one more animal birth control centre in the city,” the Commissioner
said.

Another official said that the civic body had
been taking all precautions for the safety of dogs and no harm was done
to them. The dogs were brought to the Sellur centre for sterilisation,
kept there for five to seven days under veterinarians’ care after they
are administered rabies vaccine and let off in the place from where they
were caught.

An official in the Madurai
Corporation’s health wing said that complaints of stray dog menace were
being received from various places in and around the city. The menace
was more pronounced at night.

“In a year, we are able
to do 6,000 sterilisations, but the target is much more. If we have to
prevent people of Madurai from falling prey to rabies, more dog catching
vehicles and sterilisation centres are needed urgently,” the official
said.

The cost incurred for Animal Birth Control programme is being shared by the Animal Welfare Board and the Madurai Corporation.

Statistics
of dog bite cases coming to the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) here
from various places reveal the seriousness of the menace. On an average,
80 patients are administered anti-rabies vaccine in the GRH per day.

Meanwhile,
Mr. Nanthagopal, in a press release issued on Saturday, informed that
692 stray dogs had been sterilised and vaccinated against rabies in the
last two months.