Even as more complaints about stray dog attacks are being reported across the State, the Kochi Corporation is adding infrastructure facilities to keep canines on leash.
The civic body launched a specially designed vehicle recently for picking up dogs from the streets and transporting them to the hospital facility for Animal Birth Control for Dogs (ABC) programme. “The facility will augment the ABC programme that is currently being implemented in the city,” said a communication from the Secretary of the corporation.
In its interim directive, the Supreme Court had on November 18, 2015, instructed the local bodies in the country to deploy dog vans. “The local body has plans to complete the sterilisation of all street dogs in the city by 2017 end,” said T.J. Vinod, Deputy Mayor, Kochi Corporation. The corporation was one of the first civic bodies in the State to effectively launch the ABC programme. The officials at the local body are now heaving a sigh of relief as there appears to be a perceptible dip in dog bite complaints.
The veterinarians of the civic body have already sterilised and vaccinated 2,200 street dogs in the city. Of this, 1,300 were female dogs. The nuisance value during the mating season of dogs, which begins in July and extends up to August, too have come down, indicating that the ABC programme was working, said K.J. Kishore Kumar, the veterinarian of the local body at the multi-speciality veterinary hospital at Brahmapuram.
“The sterilisation programmes that have been implemented in the city will certainly have a bearing on the dog population and will bring down the aggression of male dogs. However, one cannot rule out the fact that these dogs will never ever become fully dormant,” he said.
Reporting protocol
Dr. Kumar said that in a large number of hospitals that treat dog bites, no distinction was made between domestic and stray dog bites. “Though doctors are concerned about the degree of the wounds, the information on the nature of incidents is of importance in terms of public health and canine population management programmes,” he said.
However, the incidents were distinctively marked in the register maintained at the Ernakulam General Hospital.
The marking of the incidents is of significance as there could be compensation claims over street dog bite incidents. One analysis carried out in the city last year indicated that 71 per cent of the cases that were reported at the Ernakulam General Hospital were caused by domestic dogs, he said.
