Haryana municipal bodies spent ₹17 cr on neutering 1.37 lakh dogs since 2014

Gurugram followed by Panchkula MC sterilised most stray canines; Yamunanagar MC spent ₹14.25 crore, four times more than other civic bodies, on neutering 16,170 stray dogs, but govt says no irregularities detected

Haryana’s municipal bodies spent ₹17.46 crore on sterilising 1.37 lakh stray dogs in 14 municipal areas of 13 districts from 2014-22.

The Gurugram municipal corporation led the initiative by sterilising a maximum of 42,228 stray dogs at a cost of ₹2.87 crore followed by the Panchkula MC that neutered 17,346 stray dogs at a cost of ₹1.56 crore. (HT file photo)

Urban local bodies minister Kamal Gupta said this in a written reply to an unstarred question by Neeraj Sharma, the Congress MLA from Faridabad NIT, in the assembly on Wednesday.

The Gurugram municipal corporation led the initiative by sterilising a maximum of 42,228 stray dogs at a cost of ₹2.87 crore followed by the Panchkula MC that neutered 17,346 stray dogs at a cost of ₹1.56 crore, the minister said.

Surprisingly, the Yamunanagar municipal corporation spent ₹14.25 crore for the sterilisation of 16,170 stray dogs.

The minister’s reply said that no irregularities were found by the state government in any district with regard to the sterilisation of dogs from 2014-22.

The Faridabad MC sterilised 14,698 stray dogs at a cost of ₹1.24 crore, while the Ambala municipal corporation spent ₹77.94 lakh on neutering 9,588 stray dogs. The Ambala Sadar municipal council sterilised 6,283 stray dogs at a cost of ₹58.26 lakh.

The reply said a committee was constituted by the state government in accordance with the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rule, 2001, before the sterilisation of the stray dogs.