More than an year after successfully reviving the mass sterilisation and vaccination programme for stray dogs, the Vellore Corporation will soon set up Animal Birth Control (ABC) centre in the remaining three zones of the town to accelerate the process of mass sterilisation ahead of summer holidays.
The initiative, which was disclosed by Mayor Sujatha Ananthakumar during the budgetary meeting with the councillors and municipal officials, comes after the successful implementation of mass sterilisation drive at its first ABC centre in Zone-1 of the civic body that was revamped in December 2022.
“The idea is to decentralise the mass sterilisation programme by setting up ABC centres in all zones. It will help address stray dogs issue effectively,” P. Janaki Raveendran, Commissioner, Vellore Corporation, told The Hindu.
At present, the ABC centre near the new bus terminus, has been conducting mass sterilisation and vaccination programmes as per the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001.
The entire programme is jointly funded by the Corporation and the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). Under the programme, female dogs are given priority and returned to the same locality as per ABC rules. On an average, 20 dogs are treated at the centre.
As per estimates, around 15,500 stray dogs have been identified by the civic body as against 9,000 dogs a decade ago. Most of these dogs were found in crowded areas like bus terminus, railway stations, markets, schools and local corporation offices. Under the programme, around 1,800 dogs have been sterilised by the civic body since 2022 when the ABC centre was revived.
Corporation officials said the new ABC centres would help sterilise more stray dogs in its limits to prevent rapid increase of stray puppies. Accordingly, modalities are being worked out with Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to appoint an NGO to conduct the programme. Land for the new centres are also being identified by the civic body. A sum of ₹10 lakh to set up the centre in each remaining three zones have been earmarked by the civic body. The new centres will be opened soon.
Alongside, the Corporation also plans to set up temporary centres for the programme in each of its four zones, which together cover 60 wards.
