Ma. Subramanian, the Health Minister, toured the dog shelter on campus on Sunday; the institution said the canines were kept there because they were a menace to the deer.
The IIT-M administration revealed to Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma. Subramanian on Sunday that 56 (or 30 percent) of the 188 stray canines housed at the dog shelter at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) campus have passed away in the last year.
Mr. Subramanian, who examined the shelter after receiving reports about a large number of deaths, was told by the administration that another 29 dogs had been given up for adoption, 14 had been released because they were not violent, and two had fled. He said the administration had been asked to provide information on the 29 dogs that had been adopted.
The remaining 87 canines were housed in two enclosures totaling 10,600 square feet. According to the administration, the primary causes of death were old age and diseases. The majority of the dogs that died were between the ages of eight and 10.
The IIT-M administration’s primary rationale for confining the dogs was that they presented a threat to the campus’s deer population, according to the Minister, who reported the administration as claiming that 55 of the 92 deer that perished in 2018 died as a result of dog assaults.
The Minister stated that the shelter’s general operation appeared to be good, with nine employees employed to care for the dogs. However, the management has been ordered to keep Greater Chennai Corporation authorities informed of any developments.
The number of dogs that have died, according to IIT-data, M’s is frightening, according to Arun Prasanna of People for Cattle in India (PFCI). The latter filed a public interest case in this respect at the Madras High Court and met with the Minister during the inspection.
Source: The Hindu