In a bid to bring the dog menace in the city under control within two years, the city Corporation’s R-ABC (Rabies-Animal Birth Control) project that aims at compulsory licensing of pet dogs and animal birth control of strays will kick off on Wednesday.
Minister for Forests and Animal Husbandry K. Raju will inaugurate the Rs.3-crore project on Wednesday.
At a press meet here on Tuesday, Mayor V.K. Prasanth said the project was especially relevant in the wake of a few deaths in the district in stray dog attacks.
ADVERTISEMENT
A survey to ascertain the number of pet and stray dogs was nearly over, he said. It was estimated that there were nearly 25,500 pet dogs and 9,500 strays.
Health standing committee chairperson K. Sreekumar said the R-ABC activities will get under way on ward basis.
The Mayor said that as per statistics available with the Corporation, 80 per cent of rabies cases were the result of bites from pet dogs. Proper vaccination of pet dogs would help prevent rabies deaths.
ADVERTISEMENT
Under the compulsory licensing system, dog owners will have to register themselves with the 15 veterinary hospitals in the Corporation limits, or the district veterinary centre, or any of the 15 private veterinarians who will be empanelled to carry out vaccinations and microchipping. Registration can also be done online on the R-ABC link on the City Corporation’s website.
Once the licence fee of Rs.100 is paid through debit or credit card, or at Akshaya, Janasevana, or Friends centres, the pets will be administered a World Health Organization-recommended vaccine and microchipped. The details of the dog vaccinated and microchipped will be intimated to a veterinary hospital of choice by the private veterinarian. Only then will the licence be issued. The licence can also be sent to owners through e-mail or hard copy issued, E.G. Prem Jain, senior veterinary surgeon, Veterinary Hospital, Pettah, said.
The licence issue and renewal will be done through a software developed by the Information Kerala Mission. To ensure licence renewal every year, the software will alert owners through SMS 15 days prior to the date it expires.
Though the vaccine guarantees immunity for two years, the dogs will be vaccinated every year for effectiveness, Dr. Prem said.
Breeders will have to pay Rs.500 for a dog. Breeders will also have to take a breeder licence, and get the litters microchipped within 30 days. The pups can be registered in the name of the breeder, and at the time of sale, the name on the licence can be changed.
As part of the ABC programme to check the stray dog population, the Corporation plans an operation theatre with four tables and a kennel to house nearly 200 dogs at the Thiruvallam veterinary hospital. Aprroval for using pre-fabicated huts from the athletes’ village under the Union Sports Ministry has been received. Selection of doctors has been done. Five dog-catchers have also been roped in.
A minimum of 20 sterilisations are expected to be performed a day. The dogs will be fit for release within three to five days, Dr. Prem said. The dogs will be microchipped, and there will be a notch on the ear.
A rapid response team will be in place in case of any emergency. The team will catch and identify if an animal has been sterilized or take it to a veterinary centre.
Only when one ward will be covered will the focus shift to the next ward. “Within two years, the Corproation are will be completely covered. Then, re-vaccination of dogs can get under way,” Dr. Prem said.