Kerala: Fund crunch hits abc programme
The agency selects and trains volunteers scientifically for catching dogs.
Kollam: Animal welfare organisations are unable to implement effective animal birth control (ABC) programmes on stray dogs because of the lack of round-the-year funding. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) that volunteers for the ABC programme in Kollam has sterilised nearly 3000 dogs since the programme began a year ago. However, it is active only between November to March as the civic bodies make funds available for the programme only in these months.
The funds are allocated annually during August and September while the programme reaches the implementation stage in November. The ABC programme has an officer within the local panchayat as the implementing officer. Usually, a veterinary doctor on behalf of the panchayat acts as the implementing officer. An MoU is signed with animal welfare organisations to implement the ABC programme. The agency selects and trains volunteers scientifically for catching dogs. SPCA is the agency in Kollam district.
Insufficiency in funds also prevents the organisations to draft an exclusive team to implement the programme. “If the project had year-round funding, a team equipped for dog catching would have been viable,” said an official of the agency.
Stray dogs caught from the streets are kept for a day’s observation at the hospital before the surgery. They are given antibiotics and rabies vaccination after the ovariohysterectomy’, the surgery for birth control.
“Team work is the most important factor for the success and effective implementation of birth control programmes to curb the growth of the stray dog population,” SPCA project coordinator and senior veterinary surgeon Dr. B. Aravind told DC. “It all revolves around personnel, dogs, and funds. All these three should be synchronised in order to implement it. It costs anywhere between Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,500 to sterilise a dog, depending on various conditions.”
At present, the ABC programme initiated by the SPCA has been implemented in six panchayats --Kalluvathukkal, Nedumpana, Puthenkulam, Kottankara, Thazhava, an Kareepra. It has also been implemented in Paravur municipality and Kollam Corporation. As per the statistics with the animal husbandry department, there are over 50,000 stray dogs in the district.