DogExpress
Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana has decided to extend the contract for the sterilization project for dogs to more than 3 months, as they missed the target of sterilizing 25,000 stray dogs. As the number of stray dogs keep rising, the stray dog bite cases have also increased.
MCL Sterilization project for stray dogs
The Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana hired a Hyderabad-based firm named “Vets Society for Animal Welfare and Rural Development” in 2015 to take care of sterilization of stray dogs. The firm started working on sterilization project on February 25, 2015. The target was to achieve sterilization of 25,000 stray dogs in 2 years. They managed to sterilize 11,057 stray dogs in the first year. However, till now, they only managed to sterilize 10,943 dogs. That is a total of 22,000 stray dogs only. Since, the targets have not been met yet, the time has been extended to 3 months.
In the meantime, officials have also prepared another proposal to sterilize more than 25,000 stray dogs. As the number of stray dogs has increased to 50,000 in over two years, they have to continue the project in future as well.
Project in-charge, MCL Dr Y P Singh said, “The Company is operating on almost 1,000 stray dogs in one month. But the number of stray dogs is also increasing gradually. They have given the firm an additional three months. Meanwhile, they will also float tenders to sterilize more dogs in view of increasing cases of dog bite.
Dog bite cases
According to Dr Surinder Gogna, senior medical officer at the civil hospital said, “They receive between 50 and 150 cases of dog bite on an average and they provide free vaccination to patients. They are catering to cases from the entire district and half of the cases are being reported from localities within the MC limits.”
What locals say on stray dog menace
The stray dog menace has left residents in fear. In a few areas, the problem has increased drastically. A resident of Rajguru Nagar, Bring Mohan Kalia complained of a pack of dogs in the market area that barked at passers-by. He said since children are in danger of being bitten, they have stopped sending children out to play.
A resident of Haibowal, Veena Kapoor said stray dogs create a nuisance by barking at night and biting people. She urged the MC to solve the problem at the earliest.
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Source: The Times Of India
in Chandigarh, India. 
