Chicken first, menace later

In a unique initiative, the Bengaluru Bruhath Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) plans to feed chicken meal to 4,000 stray dogs in the city everyday. It will fix 100 feeding zones around the city and has allocated Rs. 2.88 crore for the purpose. The initiative is designed to supress the aggressive behaviour among the ca nines and the chicken meal is intended to befriend the quadrupeds and utilise the proximity thus gained, to sterilise them and also vaccinate them against rabies.

The declared ultimate aim is said to be to bring down their numbers. Had it just been a welfare measure for dogs, it had the potential for criticism. But coming as it does with the camouflaged agenda, one can only appreciate the measure which will deter proliferation of the strays who have otherwise been the prime menace for road-users and nightmare for lone kids.

Bengaluru is said to have 2.7 lakh stray dogs. The current schemes covers only 4,000 of them, identified for their aggressive behaviour due to deficient access to food. As it appears as of now, it might be deemed a pilot project. If found effective, its ambit must be amplified to render the ferocity of the en tire fraternity a thing of the past. Folks at the BBMP, Godspeed!