Project launched to make strays man’s best friend once again

VADODARA: For once, the issue of stray dogs in the city has got a human touch to it. A major initiative has been kicked off in the city to ensure that the people coexist with their oldest friends.
Even as the project to control the stray dog population through animal birth control (ABC) measures has gained momentum, Humane Society International (HSI) has come up with an initiative Abhay Sankalp to sanitise residents of the city regarding the street dogs in their vicinity. The organisation is looking to cover 2,000 societies in the city under the programme in the long run.

Stray dogs cannot be killed or relocated as per the law. Even after sterilizing them, the dogs are released at the same location from where they were taken for the operations. Given this situation, Abhay Sankalp aims at ensuring peaceful coexistence of communities with dogs.

“The project is aimed at bringing people together and discuss their issues with dogs. People are made more aware about dog behaviour and how they can keep themselves out of the bite zone of the dogs,” said HIS’s head of community engagement in Asia and Africa, Faizan Jaleel.

He said that the chances of a dog biting a person without any provocation were minimal. “When we go into details of a case, it transpires that there was some act that led to the incident,” he added.

Jaleel pointed out that the citizens would be given tips on how to deal situations like being chased by dogs on streets. The programme would also focus on persons who have pet dogs and educate them regarding responsible pet management.

The project kicked off earlier this month with active participation of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. As many as 15 societies form the city have already signed up for the campaign. HSI, India has taken up similar campaigns at other places in the country.