The Hindu : Rabies control project may take off by July

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 19, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Rabies control project may take off by July

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM May 18. With the City Corporation's much-hyped Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme proving to be a non-starter, public concern is mounting over the stray dog menace in the city which has assumed alarming proportions. The integrated rabies control programme, which was announced as an alternative, is now expected to take off only by July.

Restrained by a Central Government directive to stop the killing of stray dogs and unable to kickstart the ABC project, the Corporation is struggling to tackle the situation. Residents have started clamouring for drastic action before the schools reopen in June. They fear that children, especially those returning after tuitions late in the evening, would become targets for the marauding animals.

The ABC programme, which was designed to sterilise stray dogs, was initially welcomed by the city residents. But the project had to be abandoned following stiff public protest over the location of the core facility.

Supported by the Animal Husbandry Department and non-Governmental animal rights organisations, the ABC programme involved the capture of stray dogs from various parts of the city, their sterilisation at the vet hospital and subsequent release.

Following the Government restriction on killing of stray dogs, the local bodies in the State are now left with the only option of sterilisation to tackle the menace.

The City Corporation had taken up the ABC programme well before the Government Order was issued. Veterinary surgeons and supporting staff at the hospital were trained in sterilisation procedures. A new team of dog catchers was constituted and they were imparted special training by Blue Cross experts from Chennai.

The Pettah veterinary hospital was being equipped for the pilot project scheduled to commence early this year when it ran into a barrage of protests from the local people who feared that it would aggravate the stray dog menace in the ward besides turning the vet hospital into a breeding centre for animal viruses.

Under the ABC programme, the sterilised animals have to be released in the same area from which they were captured. But residents associations in the other wards threatened to oppose the release of stray dogs captured from their locality. Several rounds of conciliatory efforts by the Mayor failed to make headway and the project finally had to be given up.

With the number of dog bite cases increasing, the Corporation is under pressure to resume the killing of stray dogs. Civic authorities are caught in a bind. They have to do something to control the stray dog menace but flouting the Government Order banning killing of dogs is too great a risk. Corporation officials are left hoping for someone to move the Court on the issue. "Only judicial intervention can help solve the problem," says an official.

The Corporation budget for the current year had proposed a rabies control package integrating the ABC programme. The civic administration hopes to blunt the local protest by bringing the entire city under the programme and utilising all the veterinary hospitals in the zonal areas.

The project which is dedicated to Louis Pasteur, involves the immunisation of pets and stray animals. The Corporation Health standing committee expects to launch the Rabies Free City programme by July.

``The animals captured for immunisation will be sterilised before release. By covering the entire city, the fear of stray dog concentration in a particular ward can be allayed," says a civic official.

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