Dog sterilisation drive kicks off in Sector 7 Chandigarh
Gaurav Kanthwal
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 5
After a gap of one year, the dog sterilisation drive began in Sector 7 here today. As many as 15 dogs were picked up for sterilisation on Day 1. The drive is likely to pick up pace in the coming days as the exercise gets streamlined.
Healing process
The picked up dogs get a resting period of 24 hours during which they are scanned for fever and other symptoms. After the sterilisation, dogs are discharged after three days if the healing process is complete.
Dogs in the age group of one to two years were caught with the help of a specialised agency and transported in a Municipal Corporation vehicle to the Animal Birth Control Programme centre in Sector 38 (West).
National meet tips
City-wise census of stray dogs
AdvertisementEmphasis on sterilisation of female canines
Effective waste management to curb stray dog population
Employment of skilled dog catchers and paramedical staff
Use of tranquilisers to catch dog
The MC veterinary officer, Dr Gaurav Lakhanpal, under whose supervision the exercise is being carried out, said: “Things were a bit slow as it was the first day. Sector 7 is a spacious area, so workers took time to catch canines. As the process eases out, we are likely to get more dogs.” On the second day of the drive, the MC team will visit the CRPF camp and the 3BRD area to pick up dogs.
Generally, dogs in the age group of six to eight months (male) and one year (female) are identified and picked up for sterilisation. The contract of an agency, which was earlier doing the job, had expired last year. As a result, officials tweaked the criteria a bit to identify the dogs.
Officials said the drive would continue for the next one year till all dogs in the specified age group were sterilised. The picked up dogs get a resting period of 24 hours during which they are scanned for fever and other symptoms. After the sterilisation, dogs are discharged after three days if the healing process is complete.
“They are dropped back at the same place from where they were picked up. If the healing is not complete, a dog may be kept for five to seven days, depending on the health,” said an official. In September 2019, Chandigarh hosted a first-of-its-kind national conference on stray dog management. One of the main points in the conclusion was to sterilise all identified dogs of an area at the same time so that the population comes down automatically.
“It is not realistic to catch all dogs at the same time,” said a delegate who attended the conference last year.
