Opposition members in the Legislative Council on Thursday took the government to task over the menace of street dogs in Bangalore.
The issue came up during Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar’s reply to Congress member Veeranna Mathikatti during the Question Hour on the stray menace. The Chief Minister pointed out that the norms stipulating animal birth control (ABC) were stringent with respect to mercy killing. Only dogs with serious diseases and injuries could be euthanized, he said. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has a long-term ABC programme under which about 7,000 street dogs were being sterilised every month.
This irritated the Opposition members, especially Janata Dal (S) floor leader M.C. Nanaiah, who said that the government was spending about Rs. 1,000 per dog on birth control procedure. Terming this a luxury, he said such luxuries are not even enjoyed by poor people.
Expressing concern over street dogs attacking children and senior citizens, he remarked: “If the government cannot handle the problem of street dogs, it definitely cannot handle the State administration.”
He said that according to a survey, Bangalore has about five lakh street dogs.
