The Animal Husbandry department will begin an anti-rabies vaccination drive for stray dogs in Alappuzha from Thursday.
Officials said here on Wednesday that stray dogs captured by specially trained dog catchers would be inoculated by veterinary doctors.
The district-level anti-rabies vaccination drive was inaugurated by Alappuzha district panchayat president K.G. Rajeshwari at Kanjikuzhy recently. In the first phase, 1,180 pet dogs were vaccinated at 21 centres across the district on Tuesday.
"We are carrying out the drive in two phases. Over 1,000 domestic dogs have been inoculated in the first phase. Now, it is the turn of street dogs to be administered with vaccine. We expect to inject a maximum number of dogs during the drive," said an official.
In Alappuzha municipality, the vaccination programme 'Vaxi Drive' will be inaugurated by District Collector V.R. Krishna Teja on the Alappuzha beach at 7 a.m. on Thursday. Alappuzha municipal chairperson Soumya Raj said the entire stray dog population in the municipal area would be vaccinated in two weeks. The injected strays will be marked using fabric paint.
In the meantime, the civic body has invited proposals from Animal Welfare Board-approved agencies for sterilising vaccinated dogs. The agencies can submit applications till September 28. "If no agencies come forward, the municipality will conduct the Animal Birth Control programme by recruiting veterinary doctors and necessary staff," Ms. Raj said.
