Despite the crores of rupees being spent, dog menace
continues unabated in the city. Stray dogs are a menace to people on the
road, especially children, as well as two-wheeler riders, as the highly
territorial animals often chase them. So much so pedestrians and riders
dread entering localities notorious for their aggressive stray dogs.

With
stray dogs and their whelps seen everywhere, what is the Bruhat
Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) doing to fix the problem?

2 lakh dogs

BBMP
officials concede that the city’s stray dog number is rising. According
to the last cattle census (in 2007), the number of dogs stood at 1.83
lakh. It is now risen to 2 lakh, according to estimates. This despite
BBMP’s Animal Birth Control programme that involves neutering the dogs.

Officials
claimed that despite the increased dog population, the number of bites
reported had come down. Between 2010 and 2011, 24,120 bites were
reported in the city, of which approximately half were stray dog bites.
Between 2011 and 2012, it was 19,066.

7,000 a month

It
was in 2000 that the civic authority launched the birth control
programme, touting it as a long-term solution to the dog menace. The
programme calls for the systematic neutering of strays, after dividing
the city into 20 packages. Each package covers approximately 10 wards
and BBMP enlisted the help of seven non-governmental organisations for
the programme. Records say that the NGOs neuter around 7,000 stray dogs a
month.

So, why is the dog population still on the rise? BBMP’s Joint Director (Animal Husbandry) Parviz Ahmed Piran told
The Hindu
that the civic agency was still “fighting an uphill battle against
nature”. Dogs have two annual breeding cycles, with pregnancy lasting
60-62 days, and they give birth to six to eight puppies per cycle.

Of
the litter, half of them are usually female. Within 10 to 12 months,
the puppies reach maturity and start reproducing on their own. The rate
of reproduction is rapid and the birth control programme can only slowly
take effect, he maintained.

He conceded that the
manpower shortage had affected the programme. “There simply is not
enough manpower to capture the dogs. Also, neutering requires proper
training. Hence, the process of controlling dog menace is slow,” he
said.

Dr. Piran said that the BBMP could try to
decrease the dogs’ access to food (garbage in the case of stray dogs),
which would go towards controlling reproduction.

“The
programme will prove effective in the long run. Since it began, the
rate of increase in the dog population has declined. We need to adopt a
multi-pronged approach to tackle the problem,” he said.