Massive sterilisation and vaccination campaign begins.
Rajahmundry: AP to be free from stray dog menace in urban areas in just a few months as the state government has launched sterilization and vaccination programme on a massive scale in the state. The state government has issued a circular recently to take up Animal Birth Control and Anti-Rabies Vaccination programme for a period of six months involving NGOs dealing with stray dogs in the state.
Accordingly, the authorities have assessed the total number of stray dog population to be about 1, 76,873 in all urban local bodies in 13 districts. All the ULBs are formed into several clusters and each cluster will be having a lead ULB. It is the responsibility of the lead ULB to develop requisite infrastructure to carry out the programme. The infrastructure includes: kennels to keep the dogs caught on the streets, operation theatre, post-operative care unit and other amenities.
The state government provides funds for providing the infrastructure. Each participant ULB in a cluster will pay '50 per dog to lead ULB for infrastructure and NGO gets paid '700 per dog for sterilization and vaccination. The NGOs while carrying out sterilization and vaccination programme are supposed to comply with the norms of Central Dog Rules and Standard Operating Procedure recommended by the Animal Welfare Board of India.
The stray dogs which are caught by the dog catchers will be geo-tagged from the moment they are caught until they undergo sterilization and vaccination and release in the place of their origin. The NGO is supposed to upload pictures online in these three stages to the government website to help it monitor from the place where it is picked up, how it underwent sterilization and vaccination and where it is getting released. This helps no duping by NGO on the whole exercise.
As the stray dogs undergo sterilization, there will be check on their population and the dogs remain non-aggressive and docile unless and until provoked intentionally and this will result in rapid decline in stray/rabid dog bites in urban centres and the people can safely walk on the streets even during night without fearing about stray dog bite. Animal Welfare Board of India welfare officer P.B.K. Acharyulu who runs an NGO called Jeeva Raksha Animal Welfare Society said, “The state government has directed us to complete sterilization and vaccination programme within six months from the day we start the exercise. The programme is going on at a brisk pace in all districts with an exception for one or two and we can expect ULBs in the state to be free from stray dog menace shortly. However, the state should extend the same programme to rural areas too as the stray dog menace lies there too.”
