1 yr on, MC to start dog sterilisation drive in city

Tribune News Service
Patiala, December 9

The Municipal Corporation (MC) will finally begin the dog sterlisation drive from Monday after a gap of more than one year. The budget for the drive was passed in an earlier meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC). 

The decision to start the drive was taken after an Animal Birth Control Centre was setup near Modi College in the city. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 dog bite cases have been reported in the city since January.

 “The drive will begin from Ward No. 60. The civic body has signed a two-year contract with a private company. The MC will spend Rs 890 per dog, which will include administering pre-care, anti-rabies vaccination, sterlisation and post-care,” said officials.

“There is no limit on the number of dogs to be sterilised in the programme. We will target sterlisation of 15 dogs every day, which will come to roughly 400 to 500 dogs every month,” said an MC official.

The MC has setup an Animal Birth Control (ABC) Centre at the Government Veterinary Polyclinic, near Modi College. One doctor, three employees to catch dogs, two caretakers, one van and a driver will work under the programme.

Officials said with the operation theatre fully functional at the ABC Centre along with 10 dog kennels they would not face any issues in completing the work with care. The renovation work at the centre had delayed the re-starting of the programme, they added. 

“Now, there is a fully-functional ABC Centre. We should be able to execute the work efficiently and in time. We will also ensure to cover more female dogs to control their population,” said inspector Rishab Gupta.

The MC will follow guidelines of Animal Birth Control (dogs) rules for this purpose. The dog capturing squad will comprise driver of the van, two or more trained catchers and one representative of an animal welfare organisation. All dogs caught will be tagged for identification purpose.

Most importantly, the rules direct officials to ensure that all dogs are captured using humane methods, including lassoing or soft-loop animal catchers.