Dogs on Nettukaltheri jail premises to be sterilised

December 24, 2013 02:54 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 09:20 pm IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

An unusual exercise will get under way at the Nettukaltheri Open Jail on Tuesday. The stray dogs who have made the 274 acres of the jail premises their home have significantly risen in numbers over the past few months. While no untoward incident has been reported, their growing presence has prompted the authorities here to approach the non-governmental organisation, People for Animals (PFA), to carry out sterilisation of all the dogs here.

Those associated with PFA say this is the first time that a government department has sought help and even made arrangements to carry out the sterilisation programme. Instead of capturing the dogs and bringing them back to the centre for treatment, one room at the open jail has been sanitised and turned into an operation theatre of sorts for the surgical staff of PFA to carry out the procedure.

The plan is to treat 10 dogs a day on a weekly basis, beginning Tuesday, said N. Solairajan of PFA, who formerly served as Manager of Animal Rescue Kerala, near Kovalam. A team comprising five persons, including one veterinary surgeon and two surgical assistants, will be despatched for the programme. Taking into account the doctor’s and assistants’ charges, cost for medication – including anaesthetics, antibiotics and painkillers, surgical sutures and other expenses, the procedure comes up to around Rs.750 each dog.

The PFA has sent a proposal to the Prisons Department to meet at least Rs.400 of this cost. Deputy Superintendent A.G. Suresh, told The Hindu that he has forwarded a letter to his superiors seeking financial support that would allow PFA to employ a larger team to complete sterilisation of all dogs here.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.