Dog shelter at Ondipudur to end menace of strays

Coimbatore: With the construction work of a dog shelter at Ondipudur completed, the animal birth control (ABC) programme to sterilize stray dogs in 80 wards of the city corporation is expected to resume soon.
A senior official from the corporation said, “The dog shelter is constructed at the cost of Rs 36 lakh. It will house nine rooms for dogs, an operation theatre and a doctor’s room. Of the allocated 50 cents near the sewage treatment plant (STP) at Ondipudur, the shelter is constructed in carpet area of close to 20 cents. The shelter will be expanded if required.”
“We had completed the construction work and submitted applications to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) for power connection. The connection is expected to be given within a week,” the official added.
It has been close to three years since the corporation had stopped implementing the ABC programme in 80 wards after it had closed the dog shelter at Ukkadam in 2017 due to strong opposition from the public. Under the programme, the corporation had roped in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to sterilize the stray dogs.
An NGO, which has been given the task of sterilizing dogs in 20 wards, has a dog shelter at Seranaickenpalayam. But another NGO that was given charge of remaining wards had to stop its work after the shelter was closed.
He said that they have not yet finalized the new NGO that would be running the shelter at Ondipudur and the decision is expected to be taken at the earliest.
A Vijayalakshmi, a resident of Ramanathapuran, said, “Both the population of dogs and its menace have increased manifold in the recent times. The dogs are often seen chasing the motorists. In some areas, children and elderly people are scared to step out of their house, especially during night hours. The problem is not pertained to a particular region but across the city.”
She said the corporation should take steps to curb the growth of dog population and put an end to its menace.