Activists strongly opose civic body

Amritsar, June 21

The tussle between the Municipal Corporation and animal rights activists on the issue of dog sterilisation seems to be a never-ending process.

Even after the announcement by MC officials to suspend the project, citing road blocks, including its tiff with animal rights activists several times on the procedure adopted for sterilisation, the issue refuses to die down.

Counter claiming that the MC officials were carrying out sterilisation in a botched-up manner, in association with the NGO that has not been affiliated or approved by the Animal Welfare Board, the animal rights activists in the city stay firm in their approach. “We had filed RTIs and also wrote to Maneka Gandhi about the process being adopted for sterilisation and its implications. The monitoring committee that had to be designated for overseeing the sterilisation drive was supposed to have two members from the NGOs working for animal rights. So, we are not interfering but only demand that the right procedure be adopted and animal brutality be avoided,” said Rajnish Khosla, one of the animal activists.

Meanwhile, on the issue of lack of infrastructure, the MC was to engage the Endangered Wildlife Society in the process. “This NGO has a suspicious background and is not approved by the Animal Welfare Board, which is a mandatory process,” claims Sehaj Gulati, another activist and member of the SPCA. — TNS

Issue yet to be solved

Even after the announcement by MC officials to suspend the project, citing road blocks, including its tiff with animal rights activists several times on the procedure adopted for sterilisation, the issue refuses to die down.