Date:08/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/08/stories/2007040817250500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sehgal's skill to be tested in new areas

Swathi Shivanand

Expert from Ahmedabad given the contract on a pilot project basis

Decision on extending scheme to other areas after review

It includes undertaking a dog census and conducting sterilisation

BANGALORE: The revised Animal Birth Control Programme to be launched by the Ahmedabad expert, Rahul Sehgal, is only for the five new zones added to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

The Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release (CNVR) technique will be employed first in Mahadevapura and then Byatarayanapura, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Bommanahalli and Dasarahalli zones, Deputy Director Animal Husbandry Prakash Reddy told The Hindu on Saturday.

Mr. Sehgal, founder member of the Animal Health Foundation, expected in the city by April 11, has been given the contract on a pilot project basis. "He has been given a target of 5,000 dogs to be neutered, at the rate of 1,000 dogs per zone," Dr. Reddy said. A 14-member team will undertake the programme in every zone for one month each.

Only after review will a decision be taken on whether the programme would be extended to the old areas. "We are paying Rs. 395 per female dog and Rs. 375 per male dog," Dr. Reddy said. This is apart from the accommodation and transport expenses.

This initiative will come as a relief to citizens of the newly added areas where virtually no method of controlling stray dog population exists. Even after the formation of the BBMP, the Palike had neither extended the ABC programme nor attended to complaints about feral dogs in new areas. Reasons cited varied from shortage of staff to space to house the dogs.

Mr. Sehgal's programme includes spreading awareness about his method, undertaking a dog census and then conducting the sterilisations. The upshot of his technique is that dogs will be released into the area on the same day, thereby obviating dogs from the outside to stake claim to the territory.

Audit report

The deadline for the audit report on NGOs with regard to the ABC programme has been extended till the end of April. "We have been told that checking the effectiveness of rabies vaccination in every area is taking time," said Dr. Reddy. The BBMP had asked doctors from Kempe Gowda Institute of Medical Sciences to undertake the audit after eight-year-old Sridevi and five-year-old Manjunath who were mauled to death by stray dogs earlier this year.