To deal with menace of stray dogs in Gurgaon division, the Haryana Government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NGO Freindicos Seca-India to provide it required logistics support.
The NGO would assist the State Government to effectively implement the programme for mass sterilisation and vaccination of street dogs to prevent the spread of rabies in Gurgaon division, said an official spokesman.
He said that the NGO has been appointed by the Animal Welfare Board of India to implement the programme in Gurgaon division. Under the MoU, the components of Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Mass Dog Vaccination (MDV) would be conducted scientifically by FSECA-India. The requisite logistics support would be provided by the Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, in the urban areas, and by the gram panchyat concerned in the rural areas.
Since rabies is responsible for causing a large number of human and livestock deaths, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on the advice of the Animal Welfare Board of India, has approved a unique programme for mass anti-rabies vaccination and mass sterilisation of street dogs in Haryana. This programme would help in controlling rabies by preventing overpopulation of dogs, he said.
As per a survey, the total number of dogs in Haryana is over 25.36 lakh including both street dogs and owned dogs. The number of street dogs is roughly 1,878,203 and that of confined dogs is 658,226.
Accordingly, there are about 10 dogs per 100 people of Haryana which is much higher than other parts of India where there are three to four dogs per 100 people.
According to the survey of Humane International Society (HIS) (India), there are about 61,300 stray dogs in Gurgaon and owned dogs are 17,520. Total street dogs in Gurgaon division are around 5.47 lakh and in Gurgaon District, these are estimated to be 1.24 lakh.
The animal component of the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP), a programme of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is being implemented in the state through the Animal Welfare Board of India. The programme was launched by the Chief Minister Manohar lal, at the Agri-leadership Summit held at Gurgaon in March last year. The flagship programme is being implemented in districts of Hisar division. Under this more than 1.25 lakh dogs have been administered anti-rabies vaccine and 26,000 dogs have been sterilised, the spokesman added.