UT Municipal Corporation doing little to control stray dog population

Chandigarh, April 11
Ironically, stray dog menace in the city is increasing day by day while at the same time funds allocated by the municipal corporation for controlling the canine population are shrinking every year.

Figure this out, as per the budget report of 2012-13 financial year, the authorities have allocated Rs 5 lakh for the implementation of animal birth control of dog in the city which was Rs 7 lakh in the 2011-12 budget.

The authorities are left wondering whether the funds have been used properly as there is no mechanism to check the number of dogs that have been sterilised by the NGOs every month.

Residents of Sector 21 today met MC Commissioner VP Singh to complaint about the dog menace in the area. They alleged that even though the authorities were claiming that the dogs were being sterilised every month, there was no relief from the menace.

Expressing helplessness, MC medical officer of health BK Salwan stated in the House that there was no government hospital or dispensary where the authorities could sterilise the dogs through surgery.

Nominated councillor DS Sandhu said the budget which should have increased manifold, have seen a downfall. Referring to the increase in the number of stray dogs, he said the department had to hire additional doctors to sterilise the dogs, but with such little amount how could it precede their programme.

A senior official said in 2008, the authorities had hired five organisations, including two NGOs and three private doctors, for sterilising stray dogs, but the programme had failed as the private doctors quit midway. The authorities had failed to pay them money. Resultantly, after 2008 the authorities tried to hire private doctors, but no one agreed to do so.

Recently, UT Adviser KK Sharma also held a meeting with MC Commissioner VP Singh and Mayor Raj Bala Malik along with the NGOs in this regard, but the officials had failed to reach a conclusion.

Sterilisation

As per records, last year 500 stray dogs were sterilised by two NGOs, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and People for Animals, whereas there are more than 6,000 dogs in the city. In the recent General House, the MC officials had accepted that they did not have a proper system to check the dog menace in the city.

Finding it strange that the department has not put in efforts to control the population of stray dogs, nominated councillor Major D S Sandhu said why the civic body had hired only two NGOs for the purpose when there were hundreds of veterinary doctors in the city.

Congress councillor and former Mayor Pardeep Chabbra read an e-mail of a resident complaining about the dog menace during the General House .

Bylaws

In 2007, dog bylaws were approved by the MC for checking the menace. But these remained confined to papers.

Complaining about the failure of the MC to execute the dog bylaws approved five years ago, SAD councillor Harjinder Kaur in the House demanded that the medical officer of health should table a report of dog sterilisation every month to know how effectively the bylaws were being implemented.

Dog pound

A proposal was mooted by the department to construct a dog pound on over half an acre of land in Dhanas. The purpose of the pound was to serve as a temporary shelter for ferocious dogs potentially rabid as well as critically sick dogs. But the proposal has not materialised so far as it has not been cleared by the UT chief architect department.