: Land is ready, so are the funds. Trained technicians and surgeons are readily available. But for the public resistance, there is nothing to stop the Kozhikode Corporation’s Animal Birth Control Project from taking off.
Ever since the Kozhikode Corporation came up with the idea of an ABC Centre and identified land at Poolakkadavu, there has been widespread public resistance against it.
Camp scuttled
The public refused to even allow a stray dog sterilisation camp from being held there in March 2015.
On the other hand, the Corporation is unable to start the work on the centre due to public opposition, even though everything else is ready.
“The people have baseless fears that the sterilised dogs would be set free in the same locality. They need to know that it is not possible as per the ABC Act. As for the fear of pollution they talk about, the matter does not arise at all,” Mayor V.K.C.Mammad Koya said.
With stray dogs becoming a big menace in the streets of Kozhikode, the public outcry to control them is at its zenith. Hence the need to set up the ABC Centre at the earliest. The Mayor also fears that the fund allotted for the project would lapse if the work is not completed within March 31.
Awareness drive
The Corporation has been holding talks with the people at Poolakkadavu to create awareness among them regarding the project, but to no avail, said Councillor of the region P.Biju Lal.
Sterilisation camp
The Mayor added that the Corporation will try to hold sterilisation camps in association with the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in the meantime.
