The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) Veterinary Services wing has for the first time started dog census in order to assess the number of dogs sterilised. At the same time, it is all set to operationalise four new sterilisation centres at Bijwasan, Nangli, Masoodpur and Mundala by next month. The SDMC has begun work on building another such large-scale facility in Dwarka.
Humane Society International (HSI), an NGO, has been asked to conduct dog census, which will submit a report by end of October, said Director of SDMC Veterinary Services RBS Tyagi. The HSI has conducted the dog census in the Philippines and Thailand, Tyagi told The Pioneer.
The census will help the corporation know the number of male, female dogs and puppies in respective wards as well as the status of sterilisation, said Tyagi. “Our current average sterlisation capacity is about 2,500 dogs per month. Once these four centres get operationlised, the capacity would increase to 4,500,” said Tyagi.
Dog census consultant Dr lex Hiby from the United Kingdom will be roped in for his expertise. “It is important to carry out such a survey because it will allow us to measure the progress of the corporation’s sterilisation programme,” said HSI’s senior manager Amit Chaudhari.
The civic body currently has nine sterilisation centres out of which four in lajpat Nagar, Tughlaqabad, Tilangpur Kotla and Ghazipur are owned and managed by the SDMC, while the rest are commissioned to NGOs. But sterilisation at all the nine facilities are being done by NGOs, he said.
Tyagi said, besides the four new centres, SDMC has begun work on construction of a huge sterilisation facility at Sector 29 in Dwarka.
“The Dwarka centre, spread over two acres, would have four units. So, that would mean twelve operating tables and its sterilisation capacity would be 4,000-5,000 dogs per month. Also, though NGOs only would be carrying out the sterilisation, SDMC’s deputy directors would sit at these units to monitor the facilities,” he said.
The last count of street dogs was done in 2009 for the then unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) which had pegged their population at around 5.62 lakh. After its trifurcation into North, South and East Corporations (NDMC, SDMC and EDMC) in 2012, none of three civic bodies had taken up the exercise.
The census assumes significance as several cases of dog bites and attacks by stray animals have been reported in areas under all the three corporations.
last August, a seven-year-old boy in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi had died after being attacked by a pack of stray dogs, prompting the Delhi High Court to seek a report from the SDMC on measures taken by it to curb dog menace in its area.