MC to hold survey of stray cattle in Panchkula city

Panchkula, July 28

The local Municipal Corporation will now carry out a survey to count the number of stray cattle head in the city as well as those being kept at various cow shelters to take a decision regarding the setting up of new cattle pounds and transportation of strays.

The matter was discussed during a meeting of Panchkula development advisory committee on Saturday. The MC has been sending stray cows to shelters. These shelters have already exhausted their capacity and are not in position to accommodate more animals.

MC officials pointed out that they had till date sent 2,721 cows to different cow shelters in and around the city. He said, “But the cow shelters have now stopped accepting more animals citing shortage of space.”

Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said they should carry out a survey of animals being kept at cow shelters. He said, “Conduct a survey of animals being kept at cow shelters and those roaming around in the city. We will see if we have any space to keep the animals in the existing shelters else requisite land can be provided to interested NGOs to open and run cow shelters.”

Officials present at the meeting also discussed the dog bite incidents and sought stringent action in this regard. They said the district had recorded registration of as many as 5,699 dog bite cases at health institutions in merely six months this year. Gupta pointed out that the district administration had spent Rs 4 crore on the development of a pound at Sukhdarshanpur village for keeping stray dogs, but remained unsuccessful in its initiative.

MC Commissioner Sachin Gupta said, “The law provides provisions for sterilisation of dogs. The canines also have to be dropped back to the place from where they were picked for sterilisation.”