They may be living a dog’s life, but some high-powered committees are going to decide their course in the next three months.
Wants land in the city to set up a care centre and is willing to bear all expenses
They may be living a dog’s life, but some high-powered committees are going to decide their course in the next three months. The Bombay High Court has shown inclination to move stray dogs out of city limits; some NGOs are against the idea saying that sterilised dogs should remain in the city. While they told the High Court that they could accelarate the sterilisation drive if they get funds, here’s an organisation that promises to take care of stray dogs at its own expense.
International Animal Rescue (IAR), a UK-based organisation founded in 1988 has stepped into the debate at the instance of Chembur-based veterinary practitioner Dr Deepa Katyal. “When I approached them, they just asked a plot of land to could set up a care centre and were willing to bear all expenses,” Katyal said.
IAR mainly works with the method of Animal Birth Control (ABC) and organises sterilisation camps. It is on the basis of their success in Goa that IAR has shown interest in setting up a centre for the city’s strays. In the last eight years, the IAR has sterilised 11,665 dogs in Goa and continues to sterilize 200-250 dogs every month. It now has a veterinary clinic with advanced equipments like X-ray and gas machines.
The ABC program includes identification, neutering, tattooing, de-worming and vaccination of dogs. Katyal’s affidavit submitted to the court states that cities where the program was in place human deaths due to rabies had come down drastically. For instance, Jaipur had 140 deaths due to rabies in 1996 and just 5 in 2006 after the implementation of the program.
“We have been pleading the BMC to allot space for the centre, but since the matter was being heard the court we too thought of availing the opportunity”, Katyal said.
IAR has sought a plot of 2,000 sq ft to build the centre. “Since we have said that we will provide free sterilizations, the court has indicated that it will direct the state government to allot land to us”, Katyal’s advocate Jamshed Mistry said.
While NGOs say the BMC should reimburse them for the sterilizations they conduct, the BMC too spends Rs275 for every sterilization conducted in its hospital.
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