MCG terminates the services of contractor after complaints of animal cruelty

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) terminated the services of a Jhajjhar-based contractor hired for catching stray dogs, following numerous complaints of

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) terminated the services of a Jhajjhar-based contractor hired for catching stray dogs, following numerous complaints of animal cruelty by residents and a report by Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).

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In the MCG’s notice to the contractor, the civic body has stated that complaints such as non-performance of duties, cruelty towards stray dogs, and misbehaviour with citizens were received against the contractor. However, since the contractor did not resolve the matter and change its way of operating, stop cruelty against stray dogs and submit a satisfactory response to the civic body, despite having been served four show-cause notices, its services were terminated with immediate effect, the notice read.

Chetna Devendra Joshi, representative of AWBI in Gurugram, said that she had been alerting MCG officials about the discrepancies and also raising concerns of residents with them that prompted the civic body to take action.

“There were many discrepancies in the work of MCG contractor. The previous contractor had agreed to capture and sterilise a dog for around ₹950. The Jhajjar-based contractor had agreed to do the same for ₹630, which raised suspicions. This is because general anaesthesia, used in sterilisation, costs nearly the same amount. Upon further investigation, the AWBI found more issues in the selection process,” said Joshi.

Joshi said, as per the rules introduced by the directorate of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) for municipal corporations across Haryana, the eligibility for a contractor engaged in capturing stray dogs includes a minimum experience of three years, sterilisation of 3,000 dogs, and a recognition by AWBI. She said that the contractor did not meet any of the listed eligibilities.

“When we raised these matters along with the videos of cruelty in the capturing process, as recorded by residents of Gurugram, MCG took cognisance of this matter in October and subsequently served four notices to the contractor,” said Joshi.

The treatment of MCG outsourced contractors and workers with regards to stray dogs has been a cause of concern with residents. A two-minute-long video circulating on social media in April 2020 showed around a dozen men, some of them armed with wooden sticks and iron pipes, trying to grab stray dogs, stuffing them into gunny bags, and piling them into a tractor-trolley in Sushant Lok-1. This led to the MCG terminating the services of an outsourced sanitation worker with immediate effect.

Coincidentally, the previous contractor’s licence was also terminated in February 2020 after MCG received several complaints of mistreatment of dogs from residents.

“The AWBI had submitted a report that the contractor was not following the norms as per their rules and regulations. Upon verification and after giving ample time to the contractor to contest the same, a report of MCG’s findings was submitted to the commissioner for further action. The MCG commissioner has subsequently terminated the services of the contractor,” said Hariom Attri, joint commissioner, MCG.