Even as the stray dog menace remained an ever-increasing problem in the city day by day, the veterinary hospital with an operation theatre exclusively to perform Animal Birth Control (ABC) operations at Jagannaikpur has been a non-starter.
Besides spending a sum of about Rs. 15 lakh on the construction of a building and equipment being used in the operation theatre, the Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) has kept mum when the public are expressing severe resentment over the existence of the hospital in the middle of a residential area. At present, the hospital premises are being used as a warehouse by the KMC, where the Electricity Department has preserved the stocks of streetlights, electricity wires and other materials.
After finding that there was no veterinary hospital in the vicinity of Jagannaikpur, the KMC laid foundation stone for the hospital building on Kurakulavari Veedhi in 2007. Though a small building with two rooms was constructed, the veterinary hospital was not started.
Following an increased number of complaints from the public over the stray dog menace, the KMC toyed with the idea of converting the hospital with an operation theatre to perform the ABC operations.
Besides renovating the building and procuring the equipment, the KMC also entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Society for the Protection and Care to Animals, a local NGO, to perform the operations on the stray dogs.
Residents oppose
Though everything was readied by June, the veterinary hospital and operation theatre remained non-starters with the residents of the area vehemently opposing the project and reportedly bringing pressure on officials through politicians.
“The officials should make attempts to convince the residents, as the ABC operation is the only solution to address the stray dog menace. From our part, we have taken the issue to the notice of Union Minister Maneka Gandhi,” says B.B.B. Behara, a medical doctor and representative of the NGO.
Admitting that the residents were up in arms against the project, Health Officer of the KMC B. Sailaja Suresh Kumar said they were trying to convince the public. “We are making arrangements to open the veterinary hospital very soon. Hopefully, in a week or so,” she says.
Wondering why the officials do not constitute a district-level committee with animal rights activists before making arrangements for the ABC operations, animal rights activist S. Gopal says an approval from the district-level committee is mandatory to perform the operations as per the Animal Birth Control Rules 2001.
“Though a committee was constituted in 2011, no animal rights activist is there in the board. Moreover, the committee is not functional now,” he says.
Hospital premises being used as a warehouse to stock electrical equipment, including streetlights, electricity wires
