Minister’s statement on 'stray dog-free Bengaluru' draws flak

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru:

On Monday, Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chauhan said that the animal husbandry department will be taking steps to make Bengaluru free from stray dogs. The move has come after an increase in complaints of dog attacks and rabies in the city, said the department.

Chauhan emphasised that it is important to catch street dogs and give them all the required vaccines so that the anxiety of citizens is reduced. He also added that the department is planning to bring them under one shelter where they can be rescued and be properly taken care of, reducing the disturbance on the whole.

However, animal rights activists have condemned the statement and deemed it irresponsible. Section 7 of Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001 states how street dogs have to be treated for the purpose of capturing, sterilisation, immunisation and then release. It also explicitly mentions that all the dogs caught must be tagged for identification purposes and must be released in the same area after sterilisation and vaccination.

The Supreme Court in 2015 also passed an order where it put a stay on carrying out any innovative method or subterfuge method in respect to the dogs by the states.The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) has written to the minister and has urged him to withdraw such orders and to follow the Animal Birth Control Rules to control street dog population and dog attacks. Minister also held a meeting with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials and concerned departments regarding sterilising dogs to control their birth rate in Bengaluru.

“The department must call for tenders from Animal Welfare Board accredited NGOs who will then sterilise and vaccinate the dogs. After a span of three days, when their wounds are healed, they must be released in the same vicinity they were picked up from. Parallelly, the authorities must also conduct anti-rabies vaccination drives in the city,” Arun Prasad, an animal rights activist explained.

“When there is a standard operation procedure already laid out, why is it not being followed?,” he questioned. “The complaints are on the raise only because the municipal authorities are not doing an efficient job of controlling the dog population and vaccinating the already existing ones,” he added.