The Kochi Corporation’s Animal Birth Control for Dogs (ABCD) programme will be strengthened in the wake of reports of increased instances of rabies deaths and dog bites from some parts of the State. The government had asked the local bodies to strengthen the drive.
The civic body is planning to double the capacity of the ABCD programme at its Brahmapuram facility by recruiting more veterinarians and animal handlers. The proposal is to have two sets of veterinarians, with each set having three experts. The number of surgery tables would be increased to five and there would be 10 animal handlers who would move across the city to net the community dogs and bring them to the surgery table, said health standing committee chairman T. K. Ashraf.
The target is to carry out 10 to 20 surgeries a day so as to effectively bring down the birth rate of dogs. The neutered dogs would also be vaccinated against rabies, he said.
The State government recently issued an order permitting the appointment of operation theatre assistants and cleaning staff for the facility. The files for their appointment have been moved. The enhanced facility would become operational after Onam, said Mr. Ashraf.
Incidentally, Kochi Corporation was among the few local bodies in the State that had been effectively carrying out the ABCD programme. Around 7,000 dogs have been covered under the civic body’s ABCD programme.
Though the sterilisation and vaccination programme had been on for quite some time, the canine population had not come down significantly in the city, said Mr. Ashraf. It is suspected that dogs from nearby areas are moving into the city in search of food. The availability of edible food in garbage piles might be attracting dogs to the city, he said.
The civic body is also considering providing collars for dogs that have been sterilised and vaccinated. Currently, a V-shaped cut is made on the ears of the sterilised and vaccinated dogs. Collaring the animals would help in their easy identification and in strengthening the birth control programme, said Mr. Ashraf.
