Sterilisation drive fails to check dog population

Despite 10 NGOs in the city sterilising thousands of dogs every year, the canine population in the city does not seem to be declining.

Despite 10 NGOs in the city sterilising thousands of dogs every year, the canine population in the city does not seem to be declining. With as many as 7,000 dog bites being reported in 2011, councillors of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have asked the administrative wing to launch an investigation into the sterilisation programme since it does not seems to be affective.

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"The problem of stray dogs remains rampant and we keep getting several complaints of dog bites. Since MCD is paying the NGOs for the sterilisation work, we must keep a tab on whether it is at all working," said Rekha Gupta, member of standing committee at a special meeting to discuss budget for 2012-2013.

Members of the standing committee also said that the MCD should request the Supreme Court to review its policy regarding dog sterilisation. According to the policy, dogs have to be picked up and returned to the same spot after the operation. This creates an extra problem for the people involved in carrying out sterilisation and also for the locals, said a councillor.

To deal with the stray dog population, the MCD has outsourced the job to 10 NGOs who sterilised 27,313 dogs in 2010-2011. So far, in 2011-2012, 13,978 dogs have been sterilised.

According to veterinary officials of MCD, the sterilisation process will pick up speed once the much-touted veterinary hub opens up at Mukundpur near Burari.

The project envisages a crematorium for pets as well as 10 dog sterilisation centres. It is, however, stuck due to problems related to land use.