Birth control drive to curb dog menace

KOCHI: The city corporation will launch the much-awaited animal birth control – anti-rabies vaccination (ABC- ARV) programme, which is expected to resolve the perennial issue of street dog menace, on May 28.

A state-of-the-art canine hospital with a capacity of sterilising 4,000 dogs per year will also be inaugurated by minister for urban affairs Manjalamkuzhi Ali. Announcing this in a press conference here on Friday, corporation mayor Tony Chammany claimed that the project is first of its kind in the country.

The project, to be built at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore, will require nearly Rs 65 lakh as the annual running cost. The civic body, which has been sitting on the ABC programme proposal for long, recently included it under the fast track Mission Kochi programme.

The hi-tech canine hospital has the facility to sterilise five dogs at a time. The animals caught from each area will be GPS-tagged and they will be released in their own area after post-surgical care.

An identification mark (ear notching) will be given to sterilised animals. It is expected that around 12,000-14,000 animals can be sterilised in two to three years. The civic body will also introduce the responsible dog ownership initiative, the mayor said.