Uttarakhand has become the latest State to launch an Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme, aimed at reducing the stray dog population. Andhra Pradesh had initiated its ABC programme three months ago.
States in India are taking steps to reduce the human-dog conflict with
Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the fourth India for Animals conference in Mumbai, Dr. Ashutosh Joshi, officer in-charge, Uttarakhand Animal Welfare Board and member, State ABC Monitoring Committee, said the Uttarakhand government is planning to initiate the programme in three phases. In the first phase, it would cover urban local bodies in Nainital, Mussorie, Dehradun and their surroundings, five municipal corporations in Haridwar, Roorkee, Kashipur, Rudrapur and Haldwani in the second phase, and the remaining district headquarters and their surroundings in the third phase.
“In the module, proposed by the Animal Welfare Board of India, stray dogs can be transported to the centres within 50 km of the local body, and get treated, vaccinated and sterilised,” Dr. Joshi said, adding for the first phase, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the local, State and Central governments.
He said ABC campuses have been constructed in three urban local body areas, which include operation theatres for treating the dogs and kennels to keep them till they recover. Dr. Joshi said operations in these three areas are likely to begin in the first week of November, and the State government plans to accomplish its target of controlling almost 25,000 stray dogs in two years.
In Andhra Pradesh, the government initiated the ABC drive and Anti-Rabies programme three months ago, and works with five NGOs to sterilise and vaccinate strays. Under the programme, the NGOs tag the dogs after treating them to maintain its database, which is monitored by the government. It has also developed a mobile app which tracks progress, right from sterilisation to release.
