Sunday, 08 August 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
A bi-annual monitoring survey conducted by Humane Society International/India (HSI India) has shown a sharp decline in lactating females and puppies with successful sterilisation and vaccination of 66 per cent of street dogs. These have been conducted over the past five years in the city with support of Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD). In 2021 itself, 3,211 street dogs were sterilised and vaccinated against rabies in Dehradun by HSI India.
HSI India started its Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme in Dehradun in November 2016 with its objectives to control street dog population, reduce human-dog conflict and improve the welfare of street dogs. Till date, the programme has carried out spay and neuter or sterilisation surgeries for a high percentage of the dog population in the city – 73 per cent in core Dehradun zones and 53 per cent in the adjacent and 40 newly added municipal wards in the west and east, changing the dynamics of the dog population growth and improving the lives of dogs and humans.
HSI India Dog Population Management Programme-Dehradun, programme manager Dr Ashok Kumar said, “We have already sterilized 66 per cent dogs of the city in the last four years and the remaining will be done in the next few years. After evaluating the impact and progress made so far, we have now decided to target zones A and F, and both regions of west zone 2 where the sterilisation rates are less than other zones”.
Officer in-charge, Uttarakhand Animal Welfare Board and member, State ABC Monitoring Committee, Dr Ashutosh Joshi said, “I am happy to see that Dehradun is among the cities that have a good number of sterilisation rates. The ABC programme will not only control the population of the street dogs but will also help reduce the number of dog bite and rabies cases”. According to HSI India, there is a 13.35 per cent decline in the number of dogs counted in the survey of June 2021. The number of puppies counted in the survey of May 2017 has declined by 38.5 per cent in the results of June 2021 survey.
