The freedom to walk without fear along the beach front or simply saunter through a quiet street, which is one of the simple joys of this city for tourists and citizens, has now come under an omnipresent threat — stray dogs.
No one seems to be able to recall a situation as bad as now, with packs of dogs having imposed themselves across public spaces. The stray creatures are a lurking threat for motorists and pedestrians alike.
Recently an MLA knocked on the doors of a police station to lodge a complaint against the municipal authorities for allegedly failing to control dog menace in his constituency. Another MLA has warned of letting stray dogs into the Legislative Assembly if the government fails to act.
In another incident, the wife of an MLA was chased around by a pack of ferocious dogs.
The worst case though was the recent death of an 11-year-old boy due to rabies in the city suburb of Koonichempet few days ago.
The school students had been bitten by a stray dog while playing with his friends in his residential area about four months ago. The family members and relatives believed that the wound would heal by applying some folk medicine on the site of the bite.
However, the boy soon developed high fever and began displaying symptoms of hydrophobia. Though he was taken to the Government General Hospital, Mannadipet and later to the Jawaharlal Institute Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), his life could not be saved as the rabies was full-blown by then.
“For over a decade the administration has neglected putting in place a well thought out and systematic animal birth control programme. Had they done so, such a situation would not have come about,” argues an animal welfare activist.
Weak animal birth control measures have certainly contributed to the population explosion of stray mongrels.
As per census conducted by Local Administration Department, there are 24,766 dogs in the Union Territory. Of the figures, 5,987 dogs are in Puducherry Municipality Area while 7,929 in Oulgaret Municipal limits. The LAD says the dog population in Karaikal is 6,397 while the figure is 397 in Mahe and 458 in Yanam. The abandoning of dogs by owners is the most cited reason by the municipal authorities for the spurt in the number of stray dogs.
According to officials, for an effective birth control programme, the municipality would have to carry out sterilisation on an estimated 15,000 dogs in six months. Given the level of fund allotment, which is in the vicinity of about Rs.2.5 lakh, the civic body could only manage to perform sterilisation of 450 dogs in 2012-13 and 600 animals in 2013-14.
“We have a regular animal birth control programme. As per Pondicherry Municipality Act, we issue licence for pet animals vaccinated against rabies and special camps are conducted every Wednesday at the Animal Husbandry Department”, said Veterinary Officer of the Puducherry Municipality K. Coumarane.
