MCD revises stray dog policy

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is now questioning the success of its stray dog sterilisation programme, which has been going on since 2003.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is now questioning the success of its stray dog sterilisation programme, which has been going on since 2003.

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Instead of a drastic decrease in the dog population, the number of dogs sterilised by the MCD has been increasing.
The MCD is now going to rope in NGO Wildlife SOS to carry out a census to find out the total number of dogs in the city and assess whether sterilising them has worked.

Many councillors said despite sterilising the dogs and releasing them in the same colony thereafter, these canines are still a menace. Municipal Commissioner K.S. Mehra has suggested that dogs be administered anti-rabies drugs so they do not pose a health problem even if they bite people.

While 12,682 dogs were sterilised in 2005-06, the number went up to 18,428 in 2006-07. In 2007-08, the civic agency sterilised 27,199 dogs.

Around nine NGOs have been carrying out this work in the city and are paid Rs 445 for each dog. Mehra had admitted earlier that the dog population in the city could be increasing due to influx of dogs coming in to from the border areas.

“After sterilisation, the NGOs preserve the genitals of the dogs so there can be no wrong data given with regard to number of immunisations being carried out,” said veterinary officer RBS Tyagi.

“There is no authentic data available presently on the number of dogs in the city. We are therefore roping in SOS to carry out a scientific survey in this regard. From this, we will also be able to find out if the sterilisation programme has been successful or not,” said Mehra.