Flagging the issue of stray dogs, former Union Minister Vijay Goel on Saturday said the proposed hospital for canine in Vasant Kunj will cater to only pets and not the street dogs. 

He also said this effort is like peanuts adding he will hold a meeting on Sunday at the Lodhi Garden to discuss the problem of dog attacks.

Thanking Lieutenant Governor(LG) Vinay Kumar Saxena for allotting land in Vasant Kunj, Goel expressed concern over the safety of stray dogs in Delhi.

He also questioned when the land allocation will take place and which organization under the “PPP Model” will be responsible for its implementation, and by what time will the construction and operation of the center begin.  Goel claimed there was no clarity on these matters. Goel said until then, thousands of stray dogs would continue roaming the streets.

He criticized the fact that the proposed center would serve as an exclusive hospital for expensive pet dogs, focusing solely on the treatment and care of affluent individuals' pets, generating more and more income from pet owners, while the stray dogs would only have a name in this case.

 He also highlighted the inefficiency of the current dog population control measures. Goel said despite the municipal corporation offering a thousand rupees for dog sterilization, even then the dogs are not being sterilized.

Goel said it would have been better if the Delhi Government utilized the existing 70 animal hospitals to address the issue of dog population control and use them for the sterilization of dogs and suggested the LG to order them to assist in the sterilization of stray dogs. These hospitals are already established, but remain unoccupied.

Goel announced he will hold a meeting tomorrow at Lodhi Garden in Delhi to discuss the problem of dog attacks. Lodhi Garden has been a major concern, with dogs frequently biting individuals. The meeting will take place at 8.00 in the morning at Rose Park, with a large number of residents and RWAs expected to participate.

Goel revealed that he and his colleagues have been receiving threats for organizing this meeting, which is highly concerning. Goel is  actively engaging with RWAs and NGOs to address the issue of dog attacks in different parks across the capital city.