In a bid to tackle the stray dog menace, the Alappuzha municipality has started to implement the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme.
The municipal area witnessed an increase in the incidents involving street dogs in recent times. As part of the programme, specially trained groups under the aegis of the Kudumbashree Mission have begun capturing strays for sterilisation.
“The captured dogs have been shifted to the Government Veterinary Hospital at Kanichukulangara for sterilisation. After sterilisation, dogs will be put under observation and provided special care, before releasing at the places of their capture and after affixing ear tags for identification,” said an official.
Apart from implementing the ABC programme, the civic body is also planning to introduce issuing licences for keeping dogs as pets.
Recently, the district administration directed the local bodies to initiate measures to tackle the stray dog menace by effectively implementing the ABC programme. At present, the district has two ABC centres functioning at Mavelikara and Kanichukulangara. Measures have been taken to set up more such centres in the district. The construction of an ABC centre in the Alappuzha municipal area is in the final phase. Besides, steps have also been taken to administer anti-rabies vaccines to dogs with the help of animal welfare NGOs.
The stray dog menace has become a major issue in the Alappuzha municipality and several other parts of the district. Several people suffered dog bites in recent weeks. In September 2019, stray dogs attacked and injured more than 30 people in Alappuzha town in a span of a few hours. Following this, several measures were announced to tackle the problem, but stray dog numbers remain high.
Experts have called for proper waste management, which would address the issue to a large extent. One of the main reasons for the increase in stray dog numbers was the dumping of garbage and slaughter waste, they pointed out.
