The Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme of the city Corporation, which had come to a halt for close to seven months since November last year, is finally getting back on track. The programme restarted at the new facility in Thiruvallam last month, and 96 dogs have been sterilised during this period. Now, plans are also afoot to re-open the sterilisation facility attached to the Government Veterinary Hospital in Pettah.
According to the Corporation veterinarian, most of the complaints regarding stray dogs in recent weeks have been from the wards of Pangode and Nettayam. A dog bite was also reported in Nettayam two weeks back. Currently, there is just one veterinary doctor, three assistants and three dog catchers at the Thiruvallam facility.
“We do need more veterinary doctors. With just one doctor, the maximum sterilisations that can be done in a single day is four or five. Up to ten sterilisations can be done with two doctors. There is a plan to appoint one more veterinary doctor on temporary basis at the earliest,” said Veterinary doctor Sreerag.
The previous implementing officer had demolished the sterilisation facility attached to the Government Veterinary Hospital in Pettah, without making alternative arrangements. This brought the Animal Birth Control programme to a halt, a fact which came to the notice of the local body authorities only four months later.
Local people also protested against running the sterilisation centre at Pettah. Attempts to restart operations here will hence be a challenge. Now, the plan is to re-open it with the existing facilities as reconstruction of the demolished building is expected to take a long time. The old dogs kennels have fallen into disuse. Maintenance work is to be done on the same and a veterinary doctor needs to be appointed before it can be re-opened.
Suggestions have also come up on having two or three smaller sterilisation centres in different parts of the city rather than having one centre for all the hundred wards. Only up to 15 dogs can ideally be held at a time in centres like Pettah, which is situated in a small area surrounded by houses.